Longview residents upset by Nazi graffiti

Published 6:47 pm Wednesday, May 21, 2008

LONGVIEW — Residents of a block in Longview are unhappy about a rash of racist and Nazi graffiti.

Bright orange swastikas and “white pride” symbols appeared Tuesday on sidewalks, trees, outbuildings and a truck in the 500 block of 15th Avenue.

Kay White, who is Caucasian, says the neighborhood has become a frequent target. A tree in front of her house bore the label “SWP,” short for Supreme White Power, and a swastika was on the garage door.

White says the graffiti distressed her 14-year-old daughter Natisha, whose great-great-great-grandmother was a black civil rights pioneer in Longview.

Lisa Velasquez, a friend of some of the graffiti victims, says it must be stopped because “you never know when it can turn into a really violent crime.”