Someone used marker to write racially-charged graffiti on the windows of a political campaign office in East Lakeview late Wednesday or sometime Thursday.
The hate language, which targeted Hispanics, Jews, and blacks, was found on the glass of a storefront used by a political action committee that is working to support presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar.
“I learned this morning that my former campaign office has been vandalized by hateful messages targeting me, communities of color, and the Jewish community,” said Kim Walz, a former candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives.
“This is a hate crime. The vile language tagged by the assailants is unacceptable and has no place in Lakeview, Chicago, this state, or the country,” Walz continued. “We are better than this racist, anti-semitic, and misogynistic rhetoric.”
Walz said she is not associated with the Klobuchar PAC.
Police responded to the office at 3151 North Broadway around 2:45 p.m. Thursday after a worker called 911 to report the incident.
The police department did not have a formal report documenting the graffiti as of 5 p.m., according to a CPD spokesperson. Police told an office worker that the building landlord would have to file the complaint.
Several vacant storefronts near the PAC office also sport graffiti, but none of the markings seen by a CWBChicago reporter on Thursday appeared to have racial undertones.
A quick walk around the area found paint and markers have been used on the windows of the former Reckless Records at 3126 North Broadway, the now-vacant Chipotle at 3181 North Broadway, and a vacant storefront formerly used by a dry cleaner at 553 West Belmont.
The Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce, which operates an aggressive neighborhood clean-up operation, did not respond to a request for comment about the marked-up storefronts.
