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The campaign of Indian-American Democratic Congressional Candidate Peter Jacob and the community of Union Township in Union County, New Jersey, was shaken by a spate of hate graffiti painted on his home and the sidewalk adjacent to it Oct. 7 and Oct. 11. Local community and religious leaders have condemned the acts, pledged to counter bias, and ensure a full police investigation.
In an interview with Desi Talk, Jacob said a neighbor saw 2 swastikas drawn on the sidewalk in front of his home on Oct. 7, and called the police. Jacob gave a statement to the police who came to investigate the matter. On Oct. 11, Jacob found two of his lawn signs vandalized with spray paint, and another swastika drawn on the wall behind his home. His spokesperson Josh Levin, is quoted in Newjerseyhills.com saying the vandals appear to have tried to gain entry into Jacob’s home.
Jacob called a press conference following the second instance of vandalism Oct. 11 morning. Religious leaders and public officials condemned the acts and signed a pledge to fight racism and bias in the community, and the South Asian Democratic Caucus planned to release a statement as well, Jacob said.
Jacob’s opponent, incumbent Republican Leonard Lance, promptly released a statement Oct. 11, calling the display of anti-Semitic hate symbols like the swastika “abhorrent.”
“I stand with Peter Jacob in condemning these offensive acts of vandalism and support a full police investigation into these crimes,” Lance said. He complained in the statement that his request to join Jacob at the press conference was turned down because of his support for Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Jacob indicated that Lance’s support for Trump was a sign of support for this divisiveness.
“This country is seeing divisive rhetoric at the national level and my opponent even shared an article on social media which carried an image of me superimposed on an image of the Orlando shooter,” Jacob told Desi Talk.
The post Jacob was referring to shows the Orlando shooter in one frame and a picture of Jacob next to it accompanying an article by blogger Matt Rooney, on Savejersey.com in June. “That’s like trying to imply something like – a brown-skinned terrorist and a brown-skinned candidate were somehow alike,” Jacob told Desi Talk. According to Jacob, Lance pulled that link from Face Book after a public outcry against it.
“Our campaign Facebooked articles from blogger Matt Rooney,” Lance’s spokesperson John Mallone told Desi Talk, but refused to comment on whether the link Jacob referred to was removed following the outcry, saying only that, “Articles by Matt Rooney can all be accessed online.” Mallone also said the whole controversy over the Orlando shooter, “was in response to Peter Jacob and his campaign manager telling reporters that Lance had compared Jacob to the Orlando shooter. “We take strong issue with his accusations against us.”
The June 20 article by Rooney in Savejersey.com was entitled, “Crazy: Democrat House Candidate Frets Over “Challenged” Orlando Shooter.” In it, Rooney slammed Jacob for describing the Orlando shooter as a homophobic man with a ‘misguided’ understanding of Islam who had access to guns. Rooney also called out Jacob’s criticism of Lance who put the blame squarely at the door of “radical Islamic terrorism.”
“When he (Lance) reinforces the ‘Trumped Up-Trickle Down Racism’ of the presidential candidate, and enthusiastically supports him even when some of his colleagues have withdrawn support, it does not promote dialogue in our communities,” Jacob told Desi Talk.
“At the end of the day, this is why I’m running for office – to fight racism, ignorance and divisiveness,” Jacob said.
When asked if Jacob’s view that the national presidential campaign rhetoric was resulting in a rise in hate bias incidents around the country, Mallone told Desi Talk, “Peter Jacob has it half right – that the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is (sic) a disaster. Both have fallen in the gutter leveling attacks at each other.” However, Mallone contended, “Peter Jacob is wrong to blame Congressman Lance and his campaign for the despicable acts committed at his home.”
In an earlier news report in newjerseyhills.com, Mallone is quoted saying, “… while we continue to stand with Peter Jacob against racism in any form, we strongly reject his campaign’s continued false attacks against Leonard Lance and his supporters. These outrageous attacks from the Jacob campaign are patently false.”
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