Multiple swastikas were painted on sidewalks, benches, poles-- and one downtown Eugene business, Wednesday morning. The Eugene Police Department is currently investigating the rash of hate-speech graffiti.
Amy Baker, the owner of Threadbare Print House, says one of her employees found their building tagged with close to 20 swastikas.
BAKER: “It’s especially hard to see it on your business, and your logo, and I want everyone to feel safe here. And I think we do, and at the end of the day I feel like this was punk kids and I don’t feel threatened or unsafe."
She says some of her employees took it harder than others. Graphic designer Alayna Sibille says she was already feeling tense having lived in Orlando when the Pulse Night Club shooting occurred 3 years ago.
SABILLE: “We forget that there is still hate in every community, all over the place”
Sibille says the Swastika tagging inspired her to design a t-shirt stencil in response. It says, “Hate Has No Place Here.”
Threadbare Print House is holding an event on June 13 where people can get the design printed on shirts. The business is accepting donations that'll be sent to the Community Alliance of Lane County and the Eugene-Springfield NAACP.
