A Republican Party office was vandalized over the weekend, supposedly because of its support for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Townhall reports the words “rape” and “shame” were spray-painted across the walls and door of the Winnebago County Republican Party headquarters in Illinois Saturday night. The two words, painted repeatedly across the walls of the building, are believed to be about the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.
“We can have our differences. We can have good spirited debate. I hope whoever is responsible for this will be brought to justice. You are a coward for doing it unless you come forward!” state Rep. John Cabello wrote on his Facebook page. He also shared photos of the vandalism.
WREX-TV reports Rockford police are investigating.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, a Democrat, also responded to the vandalism, saying: “This type of behavior is unacceptable and certainly does not live up to our community’s values. We all have differences but we must learn to disagree on policy without attacking people.”
Hostility has surrounded the nomination of Kavanaugh for months. Kavanaugh and his family, as well as one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, have received death threats in relation to the allegations. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and key swing vote in his confirmation, also said her office has received a number of hostile calls from abortion activists and one caller threatened to rape one of her female staffers.
Vandalism, threats and violence against conservatives and pro-life advocates seem to be on the rise. In September, a Republican Party office in Wyoming was set on fire two days after it opened. Local authorities said the fire was intentional.
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A popular conservative blogger also was under police protection in September after she received rape and death threats because of a pro-life tweet.
LifeNews has reported about dozens of threats, vandalism and other violence against pro-life advocates in the past year. These range from prominent pro-life politicians U.S. Reps. Chris Smith, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Steve Scalise to a sidewalk counselor who had a gun pointed at him.
In June, a Florida man who volunteers at Planned Parenthood was arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill pro-life U.S. Rep. Brian Mast’s children. Then in August, someone threatened to rape and kill the family of a pro-life advocate with Operation Rescue.
Students for Life has documented more than 40 incidents of vandalism alone in the past five years against its pro-life students groups. An interactive map displays the places where its clubs have been victims of vandalism.
