For eight months Cincinnati Police and the FBI have tried to track down the person who vandalized a Sayler Park vehicle with Swastika symbols, and other phrases like "Go Home," "Musslim Terrorist", and "Trump America," with no success. Now they want your help.
During a news conference Friday, Special Agent in Charge Angela Byers said the victim, of Middle Eastern Descent, reported damage to a maroon and tan Ford Explorer. The federal government is pursuing the case as a hate crime.
"Hate crimes are not only an attack on the victim. They are meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community," Byers says.
The crime happened Thursday, May 4, 2017 at about 4:20 a.m. off Gracely Drive and a parking lot video camera recorded the incident.
The suspect was wearing a light colored sweatshirt and dark pants. Police say he appears to be right-handed.
Assistant Cincinnati Police Chief Dave Bailey says any information will help. "We need people to call in. There's people out there that know something about what happened in this case. A lot of times what we run into is folks think, 'Well, I know a little something, but assume that the police or the FBI may know what I have' and that's not true."
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information. Call (513) 979-8333 or log-on to this FBI website.
Paul Booth was at the news conference on behalf of the City of Cincinnati's Office of Human Relations. He says he's appalled. "There seems to be an increase, although we can't quantify that, of such incidents throughout the City of Cincinnati."
His office and other agencies are tracking the crimes to find out if they are just in certain pockets and whether there are signs they are about to happen.
Booth says other groups throughout the city are working with the victims.
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