Staff Reports
Columbus police released two more photos and a video as they continue to pursue a suspect caught on surveillance camera in connection with white supremacist graffiti stenciled on downtown Columbus buildings discovered early Saturday morning.
The suspect is described as a white male wearing glasses, a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and a black backpack. A video of the suspect is posted at therepublic.com.
Locations bearing the painted logo of an organization called Patriot Front included the Cummins Corporate Office Building and First Presbyterian Church. Both entities have long been outspoken about racial injustice, including days ago at a rally for stopping hate of Asian-Americans. Cummins leadership also issued a statement last week on voting rights in the wake of a newly passed measure in Georgia that critics said is intended to keep minorities from voting.
The same graffiti also was found Saturday in other nearby cities such as the Cincinnati metro area, according to news reports.
The Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center both classify the group named in the stencils, Patriot Front, as a hate group. The stencils included the message “Reclaim America” and the organization’s website, which The Republic has blurred from published photos.
Besides Cummins and the church, graffiti was also found in Friendship Alley between Fourth and Fifth streets downtown and on the parking garage on Jackson Street. Downtown business owners said they noticed the graffiti as early as 8 a.m., and that some of the images had already been covered up by 2 p.m.
Confederate flags were also placed along 11th and Washington streets in Columbus and were discovered Saturday morning when the graffiti was found.
Major national, investigative media such as propublica.org have called Patriot Front “the most active white supremacist group in the nation.”
Patriot Front formed in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Have a tip?” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
If you have information about those who defaced the downtown buildings, Columbus Police Department has a tip line, where tips may be left anonymously, at 812-376-2619 or at the department’s mobile app at -p3tips.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
