A Long Beach City Council member and a city commissioner warned recently about an increase in racist graffiti, and police are investigating at least one such incident as a possible hate-motivated crime.
“I am deeply saddened and concerned about yet another Anti-Semitic graffiti report tonight and the increase in hate incidents we are seeing in Council District 5 and across our city,” Councilmember Megan Kerr said in a statement last week.
Kerr did not respond to a call and email about the incident, but Long Beach police said she was referring to an incident on April 5 when someone vandalized a sidewalk with spray paint in the Los Cerritos neighborhood.
Police did not say what was spray painted, but at an Equity and Human Relations Commission meeting earlier this month, Vice Chair Christopher Covington said there’s been a rise in people using swastikas in tagging around the city.
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Covington said that last month he reported several spray-painted swastikas, including some paired with the N-word, on Pacific Coast Highway near Lemon Avenue.
He believes they were targeted at some nearby Black-owned businesses.
Covington, who emphasized he was speaking as a resident and not in his role as a commission vice chair, applauded Kerr for speaking out about the graffiti in Los Cerritos, but he said more needs to be done, especially in Central Long Beach where “most people are desensitized to the graffiti because it’s never taken down.”
In this case, he said, some of the swastikas on PCH were removed quickly but one stayed up for a week.
Covington urged residents to call police and report any racist graffiti they see as hate crimes.
“It’s been an issue for years and it goes underreported,” according to Covington, who said he’s lived in Central Long Beach for 30 years.
Anyone can report a suspected hate crime to Long Beach police by calling 562-570-2773 or 911 if the situation is an emergency.
To request graffiti removal, residents can call 562-570-2773 or use the Go Long Beach app.
Police said they could not immediately provide detailed numbers on how many hate-motivated incidents have been reported so far this year, but the most recent hate crime numbers reviewed by the Long Beach Post showed they were on the upswing in 2023.