White nationalist graffiti was spray-painted on an exterior wall of the Buddhist Church of Sacramento on Thursday, February 19. The church has a large population of Japanese American members, and February 19 marks the date in 1942 that then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of over 100,000 Japanese citizens and immigrants during World War II.
The symbols sprayed on the building include 88, a well-known hate symbol denoting the 8th letter of the alphabet “H” twice, standing for “Heil Hitler.” Another symbol on the building, “NS/WP”, seems to stand for “National Socialism/White Power,” is the name of a Russian white nationalist group by that name. Further graffiti stated “Moscow Never Sleeps”, another reference to Russian nationality.
Church leaders did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
George Warren has been attending the church for over 20 years with his wife and children. He said that the church is in the process of covering it up, and he believes that no specific threats were made to the church following the vandalism.
A Sacramento subreddit post about the incident showed support from community members. Many people offered donations or to support a clean up effort.
“I was getting emailed offers and texts, [saying] ‘Oh, this is awful, can I help? We want to bring a bunch of people down,’” Warren said. “I mentioned to some of the church leaders, I’ve got friends that feel helpless and would like to come and help.”
Warren added that another group followed the initial vandalism, blacking out the original vandalism and adding flowers. He said they might have meant well, but it hasn’t made cover up any easier.
“Ironically, the black paint is causing more issues than the light paint,” Warren said. “However well-intentioned it was, it is creating more work for the church to get rid of it.”
A police report has been filed for the incident. According to Warren, there’s been offers from many community members to help in repainting efforts and donations.
Warren also said that the church has experience cleaning up graffiti, and wants the area around the church to be nice and welcoming.
“They pick up litter and they do grounds maintenance,” Warren said. “They don’t ask for anything in return. It’s just part of being a good neighbor.”
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