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Portsmouth pushes back on overnight wave of hateful graffiti targeting temple and local businesses

People work to remove a swastika from Temple Israel in Portsmouth Feb. 21, 2023. It was one of numerous buildings in the city hit with hate symbols overnight.
Deb Cram / Seacoastonline.com via Granite States News Collaborative
People work to remove a swastika from Temple Israel in Portsmouth Feb. 21, 2023. It was one of numerous buildings in the city hit with hate symbols overnight.

This story was originally produced by Seacoastonline. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.

The New Hampshire attorney general has launched an investigation following an overnight wave of hateful graffiti across the city. Targets of hate in the community included Temple Israel, a coffee shop owned by the city's assistant mayor, who is Black, and at least 13 other businesses.

Surveillance video captured on High Street by Grim North Tattoo & Piercing, also owned by a person of color, shows a masked person approaching the shop shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday and defacing the business with spray paint. Images provided by the business show two red swastikas, one on the door and another on a window, as well as a red “X” sprayed over a sign hanging in the window reading, “You Are Loved.”

The person seen in the surveillance videos is seen wearing a hooded red sweatshirt, khaki pants and white sneakers.

Christina Sardinha Wulfe, co-owner of the business along with her husband, James Moller Wulfe, said the tattoo business displays an LGBTQ+ flag outside the building and is a regular contributor to Seacoast Outright and local drag shows, alongside other businesses targeted by the graffiti.

Continue reading on Seacoastonline.

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Updated: February 21, 2023 at 5:16 PM EST
This story was updated with additional information about the investigations into this incident and community responses.
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