SEQUIM — Numerous swastikas and a misspelled Nazi slogan were spray-painted in three locations in Carrie Blake Community Park.
Vandalized spots included the Sequim skate park, a pickleball court and a nearby sidewalk.
Tim Williams, Sequim Picklers’ president, said it was the first time the courts have seen tagging on them since they opened during the summer of 2018. Tagging involves the repeated use of a single symbol or series of symbols.
While one court was unplayable while efforts were underway to remove the graffiti, Williams said the bigger issue is that the pickleball courts are a refuge during a polarizing time.
“Seeing that type of hateful and offensive message intrude on that refuge is disappointing to say the least,” he said.
“It takes what should be a joyful escape with fellow club members and forces us to confront the reality that there is bigotry, hate and racism right here in Sequim.
“We work hard as a club to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone, so it’s hard to see such a contrary message scrawled on one of our courts.”
Sequim Deputy Police Chief John Southard said an officer took a report of the vandalism on Oct. 31 and that they suspect at least one juvenile could be involved.
School was out Oct. 30-31 in the Sequim School District for parent-teacher conferences.
Southard said officers are investigating available video and following up on potential leads.
According to city documents, graffiti in the skate park mentioned names of various individuals and derogatory phrases about them and in general alongside swastikas. A misdrawn swastika was painted on a sidewalk along with the phrase “hail Hitler,” spelled incorrectly next to swastikas on the pickleball court.
A can of spray paint was found in a nearby trash can, according to city documents.
Jim Stoffer, safety and security manager for park neighbor Trinity United Methodist Church, said the church building wasn’t vandalized, but they shared footage with police from the suspected times of the park vandalism. He said they also shared footage a few years ago for police to investigate vandalism at the park’s bathrooms by the playground and pickleball courts.
The skate park reopened as of Nov. 8 while the single pickleball court remained closed.
Chris Jafay, a pickleball player with the Sequim Picklers for three years, said the graffiti is a shame.
“The community really loves this park, and we really appreciate what the crews do here,” he said.
Jafay said the impacted court one, on the southeast corner of the eight courts, features a lot of daily play and to lose one court puts a lot of pressure on the others.
“(Graffiti) takes out the pleasure from the community,” he said.
Hannah Merrill, Sequim’s parks and events manager, said Sequim Public Works staff tried to deal with the graffiti right away but had to wait for conditions to be right to paint or remove the images.
Merrill said tagging can come and go in waves in the city, but she noted the repetition in this incident is unusual.
Williams thanked Merrill and the city’s parks staff for their quick response to mitigate damage and limit the visibility of the painted images.
He said the pickleball courts have experienced vandalism before, such as the club’s storage shed being broken into and “trashed” a few times, and their windsock had been snapped in half and thrown in a nearby tree.
The damages have cost the nonprofit several hundred dollars to replace or repair items, he said.
In September and October 2022, Sequim School District had sizable graffiti incidents, including spray painting at two Sequim schools of a swastika and a reference to a previous school shooting, and more than a month later on Sequim Middle School’s basketball court, parking signs and a classroom door with a racial slur, prejudice labeling of LGBTQ people, two swastikas and vulgar, defamatory language toward females, according to district officials.
The October 2022 taggings covered the width of the basketball court, leading maintenance staff to spray paint over more than 20 small and large tags.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
