On Sunday, Easton Mayor Megan Cook condemned a rash of hate-related graffiti incidents that took place on the evening September 5. Responding to the arrest of a 32-year-old Easton woman who spray-painted the Saints Peter and Paul Elementary School and other buildings in the East End Neighborhood. She has has been charged with multiple counts, including defacing religious property, malicious destruction of property, disturbing school operations, and use of a hate symbol.
Mayor Cook wrote:
That night, officers responded to Ulta Beauty for another spray-painting call. A suspect matching surveillance images was located in the Talbot Town Shopping Area. Police identified her as Sian Radaskiewicz-King, wearing distinctive shoes seen in the footage. She was arrested and charged with multiple counts, including defacing religious property, malicious destruction of property, disturbing school operations, and use of a hate symbol.
When acts of vandalism or hate strike close to home, it shakes the sense of safety we want for our community. Yesterday, our town was hit by vandalism at Saints Peter and Paul Elementary School and other locations in the East End Neighborhood. Given the tragedies at other schools across the country, including last week’s shooting at Ascension Catholic School in Minnesota, this kind of incident feels especially painful. It reminds us of the responsibility we all share to ensure our children’s safety and well-being. We condemn such acts of intimidation, they have no place in our community.
I want to thank the Easton Police Department not only for their swift response and arrest but also for maintaining a presence at Sts. Peter and Paul School on Friday. Their actions provided reassurance to students, parents and our community that safety is a priority and that acts meant to spread fear and division will not be tolerated here.
As a community, we must continue to come together, support one another, and ensure Easton remains a place where all children can feel safe.
Megan Cook
Mayor
Town of Easton
0 Responses
I think it is troubling to equate the alleged crimes of Ms. Sian Radaskiewicz-King to any mass shooting anywhere, be it in churches, gay nightclubs or clinics providing abortion services. It seems as if Americans are so used to mass shootings that they really don’t mean much anymore. Maybe that is how you mention killing fields in the same paragraph as property vandalism.
The Star Democrat ran an article about this vandalism that repeated the charges listed by Mayor Cook. No pictures were provided. The charges sounded as if Ms Sian Radaskiewicz-King used a bulldozer against the properties and followed it up planting the Nazi Flag in the ruble. At least one picture of the damage would have been helpful in assessing the seriousness of the crime.
I am not condoning the crimes. But we should not treat property vandalism crimes like hate crimes associated with murder. If we aren’t careful, Trump will send the Army into Easton, and like he’s threatened in Chicago, treat Easton just like we were Vietnam. It could happen here.
Vandalism of a building belonging to a religious organization in order to intimidate or disrupt operations IS a hate crime under MD law. See https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/criminal-law/title-10/subtitle-3/section-10-302/
Get real Mayor. The person who spray painted is LGBtQ and her intent was not to spread hate but to stand up for those like her. Not a good way to do it I very much agree. But don’t blow it out of proportion which leads to excessive charges and public furor that is out of line with what actually happened.She should be charged with destruction of property and nothing more. In Maryland to be charged with a hate crime the intent of the act is needed to be known as spreading hate, which in this case is very unlikely. The Mayor should not be calling it a hate crime without knowing more about the defendant and her motives.