Police open new probe after more racist, anti-Semitic graffiti found on Portsmouth bridge
PORTSMOUTH — Ten days after launching an investigation into 17 incidents of hateful graffiti at businesses, homes and houses of worship around downtown Portsmouth, city police are probing a new slate of offensive graffiti found Friday morning.
The Portsmouth Police Department was notified Friday around 9 a.m. of previously unseen hateful graffiti, which appears to be fresh, located on a Market Street pedestrian bridge that was found by a morning walker.
The new graffiti, which police noted in a news release consists of anti-Semitic and white supremacist rhetoric, was spray painted on a bridge near Alumni-Wentworth Field.
Images of the graffiti provided by the department show the Star of David spray painted in red, followed by a derogatory term for Jewish people and an “X” next to it followed by the phrase “White Lives Matter.”
Detective Sgt. Kevin McCarthy, lead investigator on the recent slew of hateful graffiti spray painted on downtown area buildings and places of worship the morning of Feb. 21, stated that the Market Street discovery is now being lumped into the larger ongoing investigation.
“It was discovered by a walker today and it looks like it may have been there for a little while unnoticed,” McCarthy said Friday afternoon.
Police are uncertain whether the pedestrian bridge markings are tied to the downtown area vandalism, an incident which saw the Temple Israel, as well as a number of popular businesses, including Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley’s Cup of Joe Cafe & Bar, spray painted with swastikas and other symbols.
“The Portsmouth Police Department would like to speak with anyone who has utilized the footbridge to develop the best information on when this tagging may have occurred,” the department wrote in a news release on Friday.
Earlier this week, McCarthy reported that police believe the extensive downtown incident was carried out by one person. With hundreds of gigabytes of video surveillance provided by the public, McCarthy shared police, in tandem with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are working through investigative leads and have multiple persons of interest, though one main suspect has emerged.
The primary suspect, though not yet positively identified by police, was caught on surveillance footage across downtown wearing a face covering, a red hooded sweatshirt, khaki pants, white shoes and orange-rimmed glasses the morning of Feb. 21.
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is also investigating the Port City incident.
“We’re continuing to get more video surveillance and I thank people for engaging with our canvassing that went on the other day with the FBI,” McCarthy said Friday.
Previous story:'Love Blooms' in Portsmouth after hateful graffiti
The latest instance of hateful vandalism to pop up in the city follows months of local provocation and incidents involving the Nationalist Social Club.
The Anti-Defamation League notes the group was founded in late December 2019 by a handful of neo-Nazis in eastern Massachusetts.
The hate group also known as NSC-131 has increased its Seacoast presence recently, protesting a drag story hour outside the Seacoast Repertory Theatre in December 2021, leaving recruitment materials around the region, and standing outside the Kittery Trading Post last year with an offensive sign also espousing white supremacy.
In January, the Attorney General’s Office announced the neo-Nazi group’s founder and another member had been charged with violating the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act stemming from an incident last year in which group members hung a racist banner over Route 1 in Portsmouth reading “Keep New England White.”
Police have not concluded whether the recent graffiti incidents are tied to the neo-Nazi group.
Members of the public with information about the pedestrian bridge graffiti and the recent barrage of downtown vandalism are asked to contact McCarthy at (603) 610-7656. Informants can remain anonymous by contacting the Seacoast Crime Stoppers at (603) 431-1199 or 1-207-439-1199, or via their website: www.seacoastcrimestoppers.com.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH police open probe into new racist, anti-Semitic graffiti
