By the Daily Post staff
A vandal used pink spray paint to write a phrase of white racial superiority in the garden area of the St. Thomas Aquinas Pastoral Center at 3290 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, police said.
The vandal wrote the phrase on a wall and spray-painted a statue in the garden.
The vandalism occurred between Sept. 18 and 24, but by the time police were notified by a parishioner, the damage had already been repaired.
The pastoral center contains the administrative offices for the three Roman Catholic churches in the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Palo Alto.
Police ask that anyone with information about this incident call (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
It is dumb to publicize vandalism. It just gives the dimwit vandals the recognition they crave, and encourages them to do more.
I disagree. I’d like to know what’s going on in my community and I don’t want censors killing news stories because they think they know best. Next thing you know this guy will be telling the Post not to report on bank robberies because it will encourage other people to rob banks.
I understand both sides. Let the media follow protocol. Like any business, they do what they do. I also understand “not reporting.” Copycats happen. School shooters come to mind. Or maybe they’d shoot anyway. I’m reminded of a large, reputable paper in Southern CA reporting on “credit card fraud.” Explaining what happened, how they committed fraud and got away with it for years, etc. Letters to the editor flew in, and they were printed. Both sides have a valid argument, but I err on the side of letting any business follow protocol. I don’t want anyone telling me how to do my job.
We need to know. It’s our parish. And otherwise we might not have known. That’s the purpose of a newspaper.
Now, what to do about it? This is a hate crime.
I am not advocating censorship,just urging the media to act responsibly. Similar vandalism occurs daily with little notice, but doesn’t present some with the opportunity to publicly demonstrate their virtue by loudly shrieking their outrage. I’d rather limit the actual crimes than engage in morality theater.
@Squidsie, Seems like a very straight forward “just the facts, ma’am” story. Can you identify the sentences in this report that represent virtue signalling or “loudly shrieking” outrage? I don’t see them. Just give me the sentence or phrase that says that?
@Observer: Perhaps I was reacting to earlier exchanges I have had on similar incidents, and the criticism from Abraham, and got a bit hyperbolic for this one. I do note, however, that because of the racist content of the graffiti, the incident got a lot more coverage than similar vandalism. Vandals seek attention, and by giving the vandal the attention that they seek, they are encouraged to again use racism to get attention. Ignoring them would do more to discourage them. To mangle an old saw: “If a racist falls in the forest, does he make a sound?”