Anti-Black Lives Matter graffiti found this week on major roads in four Windham County towns is spurring police investigations and community protests.
Crews spent Wednesday and Thursday washing away the spray-painted statement “BLM is racist” on Route 9 in Brattleboro, Route 30 in Jamaica and Newfane, and Route 5 in Putney.
The messages appear identical to ones discovered earlier this month on Route 100 in Londonderry and another part of Route 30 in Jamaica — the latter where the cleaning of the chalked words “Black Lives Matter” in June prompted the state Agency of Transportation to decide to only remove graffiti that’s “profane, grotesque (or) advocates illegal activity or violence” and to retain everything else.
“If it starts to get into the area of rights to the First Amendment, and what one person feels is appropriate versus another, we’re really going to have to look at that on a case-by-case basis,” state Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn said at the time. “But the current topic, racial justice, is very important. And we feel strongly that, for now, we’re going to look at it this way.”
The latest graffiti has required municipalities to determine who makes those decisions. Brattleboro, which maintains its section of vandalized highway, removed the statement before most people could see it. But surrounding towns waited as much as a day and a half for a state cleaning crew to arrive.
“These markings are popping up quicker than we can remove them,” Flynn wrote this week to Rep. Mike Mrowicki, after the Putney Democrat inquired.
In those towns, residents have taken matters into their own hands.
In Newfane, someone altered the graffiti to read “Trump is racist” before several dozen Black Lives Matter protesters held signs Wednesday night at the green near the Windham County Courthouse.
At the same time in Putney, someone whited-out the word “racist” with a heart before nearly 250 people lined the street near the post office for their own demonstration.
The Agency of Transportation had removed all the graffiti by Thursday.
“The messages are not at issue; the safety of the traveling public is,” spokeswoman Amy Tatko said. “In this case, with graffiti painted on the roadway, there is a serious safety concern.”
The incidents have sparked hundreds of social media comments.
“Can we write Hate Has No Home Here on the same road?” one Putney Facebook user posted.
“Why is one point of view allowed to paint in the road and another view not?” wrote a second.
“Please, folks, no more paint … chalk, if you must. Some of us have to live on Main Street,” replied a third.
The vandalism follows the defacement of a Black Lives Matter banner painted on the street in front of the Montpelier Statehouse as well as similar but separate reports in several northern Vermont towns.
People with information about the Windham County incidents can contact Brattleboro Police at (802) 257-7950, the Windham County Sheriff’s Office at (802) 365-4942 or Vermont State Police at (802) 722-4600.
