Hate incident investigated in Montgomery County

KENSINGTON, Md. — Montgomery County Police are looking for suspects in what they’re calling a hate incident in Kensington, Maryland.

The incident occurred Friday night into Saturday on Matthews Lane, Brookfield Drive and Summit Avenue.  Blue spray-painted swastikas, racial slurs and profane terms was found on homes, kids’ toys, and an inflatable Christmas ornament.

“We’ll be actively working this case,” says Montgomery County Police Captain Paul Starks.

Still, he says it’s too early to tell who might have done it.

“It’s racist stuff and that’s not what’s going around here,” says neighborhood resident David Bowie.

His home was one of those vandalized. There were blue swastikas painted on a kid’s basketball hoop, and on a child’s jeep on the side of his house.

“It definitely makes me angry because they’re spray-painting my kids toys,” Bowie says.

He thinks the culprits are children, who want to express themselves and don’t know how.

“The parents of these kids are the ones with the most to lose,” Bowie says, “because who raises their kids that way.”

Police are still investigating the hate incident.

WTOP’s Allison Keyes contributed to this report.

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