'White power' scrawled on Klallam mural

Tuesday, December 11, 2007  

A mural depicting a Klallam village was vandalized with the words "white power" and obscenities in Port Angeles, Washington.

The faces of the Native people depicted in the mural were blacked out and a devil-like face was drawn over the nine-year-old mural on the outside of the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Lab building. But authorities are not investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"A hate crime is usually directed toward a person, and this is a piece of property," police chief Terry Gallagher told The Peninsula Daily News.

Frances Charles, the chairwoman of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, said the tribe feels attacked. The faces in the mural are based on tribal members, some of whom are still alive.

Surveillance video captured two people vandalizing the mural last Thursday night.

Get the Story:
Port Angeles mural vandalism filled with racial slurs, but police chief says it's not a hate crim (The Peninsula Daily News 12/11)