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Car vandalized with racial slurs in San Pedro; family fears for safety
Newsom, LA County leaders launch campaign for $6.4B mental health bond measure
By City News Service
By City News Service
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Vandals spray-painted a racist graffiti on this vehicle in San Pedro. | Photo courtesy of Reginald Scott/GoFundMe
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n investigation was continuing Friday after a Black San Pedro family’s car was vandalized with a racial slur and swastikas sometime after Christmas — an incident that left the family in fear for its safety and local elected officials “horrified” and “outraged.” “I was horrified to learn of the disgusting, vile vandalism that occurred in San Pedro over the holidays,” Los Angeles City Councilman Tim McOsker, whose 15th District includes San Pedro, said in a statement Thursday. KTLA-TV reported that Reginald Scott’s red Ford Mustang had the message “Merry Christmas,” followed by the n-word, spray-painted on one side. The other side was painted with indiscernible lettering, while the bumper was sprayed-painted with swastikas, and the vehicle’s tires were slashed. “I have spoken to LAPD’s Harbor Division leadership and we are very clear that whoever defaced Mr. Scott’s car is to be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, specifically as a hate crime,” McOsker said.
In a message posted on a GoFundMe page, the family said it first became aware of the vandalism on Dec. 29, after neighbors notified police. An LAPD Harbor Division spokeswoman told City News Service that the vehicle was discovered vandalized near 10th Street and Patton Avenue around 10 a.m. on Dec. 29. Detectives responded around 1 p.m., and believe the crime occurred sometime in the evening of Dec. 28 going into the 29th, the spokeswoman said. The GoFundMe page says it is aimed at raising money to help the family move from the apartment it’s occupied for 20 years. As of Friday, it had raised $2,465 toward a $30,000 goal. “The words and symbols spray-painted on the car cause real, tangible terror and harm to our neighbors and our community,” McOsker said. “I do not take this lightly. I have spoken to Mr. and Mrs. Scott to offer my support as they go through this unimaginable pain that their family is dealing with at this time. This crime is hateful, deplor-
able and has no place here in the 15th Council District or anywhere.” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn also released a statement Thursday regarding the incident, saying, “Few of us can imagine the fear and anger that Mr. Scott and his family are feeling after this most recent attack. “Both as supervisor and as a resident of this community, I am outraged and saddened that one of our neighbors could be targeted in such a vile way. My thoughts are with the Scott family. “In San Pedro and in all of L.A. County, everyone belongs and everyone deserves to live in peace. I understand the LAPD Harbor Division is working hard to identify the perpetrator of this hate crime so that they can be held accountable.” According to KTLA, Scott said that his wife is concerned for her family’s safety. “She doesn’t want the door to be unlocked,” Scott told KTLA. “She’s pretty much on high alert.” Scott told the station he
believes the vandalism might have come in retaliation for parking in front of someone’s house. “Even if you’re parked where you’re not supposed to be, I don’t think that gives you the right to spray-paint somebody’s car and call them a racial slur,” Scott’s 12-year-old son told the station. “That’s hurtful.” KTLA also reported that Scott had been targeted similarly at least two times, which included his truck being set on fire about two years ago and his truck tires cut and further vandalized with a substance sprayed on them during Halloween. According to the family GoFundMe page, “We ... no longer feel safe. It would be so wonderful to have the community support us through this difficult time, and help us move and recreate the peace our household once had.” The GoFundMe page’s url is: https://www.gofundme. com/f/family-threatened-byshameful-vandalism?utm_ campaign=p_lico+sharesheet-first-launch&utm_ medium=copy_link&utm_ source=customer
ov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials Wednesday formally began a campaign in support of a $6.38 billion measure on the March ballot proponents claim will fund thousands of mental health treatment beds and supportive housing across the state. Speaking at Los Angeles General Medical Center in Lincoln Heights, which the county is working to transform into a housing and treatment facility, Newsom insisted that Proposition 1 would fulfill a vision that began a halfcentury ago for a comprehensive statewide mental health treatment system that never came to fruition. “We can make history,” Newsom said. “We can’t make up the last 50- 60 years, but we can finally fulfill that vision that was set forth a half- century ago. This initiative, Proposition 1, promotes a number of things. It does not, however, promote the following -- and that’s the status quo. If you’re for the status quo, vote no on Proposition 1.” According to Newsom’s office, the proposition, if approved by a majority of the state’s voters, would create 11,150 behavioral health treatment beds across the state, along with housing and 26,700 outpatient treatment slots. Roughly $1 billion of the bond measure would be earmarked specifically for veterans. Bass also insisted that the measure would correct years of failure to address the mental health crisis in the state, echoing comments made at the event by Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. “When I listened to the sheriff talk about the nation’s most expensive mental health institution, which is the county jail -- for anybody that was hesitant on voting for Proposition 1 because it costs a lot of money, just think of how much money it costs to incarcerate people, and think of how inhumane that is. “... Think of how much money would be saved when Proposition 1 is passed and there’s actually facilities for folks, we get people off the streets. We know that addiction and mental illness is a contributing factor to homelessness. ... We cannot separate these problems, and it is not enough to get a bed for a person. We can get people off the street, we have demonstrated that people are willing to come off the street. But you have to address why they were unhoused to begin with. And you have to have a comprehensive approach, and Proposition 1 is a step forward in that direction.” Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis was also on hand for the campaign kickoff event, saying the proposition would be a “beacon of hope for nearly 76,000 Angelenos” that will “provide significant resources to affect the transformative vision of this iconic asset (L.A. General Medical Center) and a model to replicate nationwide.” The measure will go before voters on March 5. Opponents of the measure, a group known as Californians Against Proposition 1, deride the measure as “huge, expensive and destructive,” saying it would cost taxpayers more than $9 billion over the life of the bonds, while See Mental health bond Page 19