Or perhaps in the Northeast Kingdom in general?
On the heels of the anti-LGBT bigotry openly practiced by the ownership of the Wildflower Inn, the Caledonian Record is polling the issue, with discouraging results so far. 50/50 results for their question about whether discrimination should be legal.
That said, at a public building, the responsibility for the maintenance of which lies with town government, we have this:
(photo: Steve Nichols)
which has apparently been allowed to exist for MONTHS.
And that building is at Lyndonville's Powers Park, the site of a public pool and tennis court, a place where families gather.....and nothing has been done. Not enough people seem to care.
Steve Nichols, the president of the Lyndonville Chamebr of Commerce, has been in communication with Lyndonville town manager Dan Hill and police chief Jack Harris. And has, apparently, been left with more questions than answers.
Both Harris and Hill say that they have only become aware of the defacement in the course of last week. Hill says that no methods for removing the graffiti from the vinyl siding have been successful.
But this doesn't explain why the offensive images have not been covered over, or the siding replaced entirely. Dan Hill has said he is awaiting the arrival of "something that is supposed to work and hope to have everything gone on Monday. I am just waiting for the material to arrive.."
But I see no reasonable excuse for this graffiti to have been allowed to stand for as long as it has. I find it hard to get my head around the idea that a swastika and the words, "Die Jew" could exist on the side of a public building in tightly-knit Lyndonville for months on end without it somehow coming to the attention of town officials.
As small and isolated as many Norhteast Kingdom communities are, I find it impossible to believe that Lyndonville could be this insular.
Am I naive?
What is equally troubling is the enforcement aspect.
Here's another photo:
(photo: Steve Nichols)
That tells police who to go after and question with respect to this incident, which should be prosecuted as a hate crime.
That tag stands for "Death Row 35", a Lyndonville youth gang, many if not most of whom are members of a single family.
Lyndonville is far from urban, but that hasn't stopped a gang from forming in the area.
Lyndon Police Chief Jack Harris said the gang is mostly made up of 12 to 14 year-olds around the Lyndon area, and they dubbed themselves "Death Row 35."
The gang was first recognized when a father reported his daughter was initiated into the gang approximately a year ago, but lately, the gang has drawn more concern.
Harris says that while many of the members are youths, "this is not kid stuff."
The walking bridge that connects sports fields to the Lyndon community has be the primary sight of a lot of the gang's violence. This is where police have recovered evidence of the gang's activity with objects such as bats, clubs, and sticks that were under the bridge.
Many people are now avoiding using the bridge altogether, and the students are being encouraged to take a different route as well, according to Harris.
"It's a lot of harassment and intimidation," Harris said.
And if "Die Jew" on the side of a building near a public pool isn't harassment and intimidation, I don't know what is.
So, Chief Harris, I'd have to say you have a pretty damn good place to start looking for who's responsible for this.
LYNDONVILLE, Vt.—Efforts to fight a small gang called Deathrow 35 in Lyndonville are hampered because parents of the purported gang members won't support their efforts, the town police chief said.
Chief Jack Harris said he was worried the situation, which has already led to armed muggings and at least four instances in which people have been threatened with knives, could escalate and involve adults.
"The mother of several of them, when Deathrow 35 first came to light, came on the computer saying 'no we're not a gang, we're a sports team,'" Harris said.
There you have it. We have a pretty good indication the Lyndonville Police Department knows exactly who to talk to about this hate crime. And whose PARENTS to talk to. The question is, what will be done - and when?
And when I look at this, and compare that to the discouraging results of the Caledonian-Record's web poll so far (which wouldn't even be 50/50 had....measures not been taken early on...) I find myself wondering if enough people care. I find it baffling that a blind eye is being turned to this situation. What more has to happen here?
Lyndonville Police Chief Jack Harris says it's easy to spot the six or seven kids who call themselves "Deathrow 35." They sometimes loiter on the steps of the library, or stalk their prey-usually other teens or even middle schoolers-on a pedestrian bridge behind the Town Hall.
And finally:
§ 901. Parents' liability for damages
(a) When an unemancipated minor under the age of 18 years wilfully or maliciously causes damage to any property, public or private, or injury to a person, either of his parents shall be liable to the owner of such property or to the person injured, in an action on this statute, for the damage to property, injury to person, or either, in an amount not to exceed $5,000.00 provided such minor would be liable had such minor been an adult. If the damage or injury is caused by two or more such minors, a parent shall be liable for each of his children subject to the provisions of this section in an amount not exceeding $5,000.00. The remedy herein provided shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other remedy which may exist at law, except, however, that any judgment subsequently recovered in any action brought for money damages on account of the damage or injury herein contemplated shall be reduced by the extent of any previous judgment recovered in any other such action.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to a parent legally deprived or relieved of the custody of said minor prior to the commission of the act complained of.
(c) In an action under this section against a minor's parents, nothing contained in the record of any juvenile proceeding involving the minor shall be admissible as evidence except as provided in 33 V.S.A. { 5536..
(d) Law enforcement officers who come in contact with an owner of property damaged by a minor or a person injured by a minor shall make a reasonable effort to inform such person of the provisions of this section. (1959, No. 124, §§ 1, 2; amended 1989, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), { 7; 1995, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), { 1.)
There you go, Chief Harris. Instead of lamenting the lack of cooperation from the parents, go the hell after them,
Lyndonville deserves better than to be terrorized by a gang of juvenile thugs - or they WOULD...if more people would step up and say, "I care. Stop this."
And lest anyone need reminding:
Hate affects us all.