Martin Luther King Jr. statue defaced by ‘horrific’ Nazi symbols, California city says

A swastika and SS symbol were spray-painted on a Martin Luther King Jr. statue over the July 4 weekend in what California police are calling a hate crime.

“Our MLK statue is a symbol of hope and justice for the community,” Mayor Robert Garcia of Long Beach wrote on Twitter. “This hate and desecration has no place in our city.”

The mayor described the graffiti as “horrific” and said police are investigating.

City park workers removed graffiti resembling a swastika and a double lightning bolt, a symbol of the Nazi SS, from the statue, KNBC reported.

Police responding to a report of a hate crime discovered the vandalism in Martin Luther King Jr. Park at 3:20 p.m. Friday, KTLA reported.

“This display is an attack on all of us,” said Councilwoman Suley Saro at a peace rally held Saturday at the statue, the Long Beach Post reported.

“We’re not here because we hate the person who did the crime,” said Pastor Gregory Sanders of the Long Beach Ministers Alliance at the rally, according to the publication. “We hate the crime.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 7:33 AM.