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February 21, 2011 in City
Police: Dispute between teen girls led to hate-crime probe
Police are investigating a hate crime against a family living on North Cochran in Spokane, Wash. Feb. 21, 2011. Early morning Monday, their house was vandalized with foul-laced language, including disparaging remarks about Jesus and references to God hating them. A Bible had been set on fire on the porch, according to police.
(Full-size photo)
Vandalism investigated as a possible religious hate crime was the result of a dispute between two teenage girls, Spokane police say.
Detectives have identified a “potential suspect” and are continuing the investigation, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe.
Police were called to the home in the 7000 block of North Cochran about 2 a.m. today, where they found swastikas and foul language had been written on the house, two cars, two trucks and two boats. There were disparaging remarks about Jesus and references to God hating the occupants. A Bible had been set on fire on the porch, according to police.
The woman occupant, who did not want to give her name, said she was awaken by her dog barking just before 2 a.m. She thought the dog wanted to go outside but instead it was apparently reacting to the vandals. The woman said she opened the front door and found the vandalism.
She said that she gave police a description of a juvenile suspect who is acquainted with the family, and she was waiting for officers to investigate the case.
“We have a pretty good idea of who did it,” the woman said.
She said this morning’s vandalism was preceded on Saturday by an overnight incident in which eggs were thrown at the house and and toilet paper was strewn in the yard.
Two daughters living in the home are church members, she said, which may have led to references about God and church in the graffiti.
Race is not a factor in the incident, the woman said.
A bright pink latex paint was used. The family had washed some of the paint off of vehicles parked in the front driveway.
Pieces of Silly String and broken plastic forks littered the yard this morning.
Police estimated the damage in the thousands of dollars.
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
kkrimmer on February 21 at 8:45 a.m.
ignorant white supremacist’s can’t even spell supremacist … the funny thing is that all of humanity migrated out of Africa… so we’re all genetically “black”… lmao
eagleproducer on February 21 at 9:25 a.m.
“And I think to myself… What a wonderful world…”
mikep on February 21 at 10:17 a.m.
We just returned from an interview with one of the victims, and she told us race is not a factor in the incident. It appears the vandalism was juvenile behavior, she said.
Kivaari on February 21 at 10:47 a.m.
This is pretty typical ignorant kid stuff. What I see on other sites is the labeling of Idaho as the center of racist BS. I’d venture to say there are more white power folks in Spokane county then there are in the entire state of Idaho. Racism is a multi-lane highway with each race saying hateful things about others. Spokane has a large population of poor white trash, a fertile breeding ground for hate. If you travel into the upscale neighborhoods and visit a church, there will be obvious hate towards Jews. I would guess if you went into the black neighborhoods of Spokane you would hear some pretty mean things said about whites and latinos. Hate crimes should not be a special category. Crime is crime.
mikeln on February 21 at 11:07 a.m.
Where do they learn these things? We need to find more things for our youth to do that benifit their lives. It”s a good thing we are cutting back on education, let the church teach them these things.
Dazzeetrader11 on February 21 at 11:18 a.m.
“Hate crime” should be banned from the literature. Offers nothing specific. Just something “cute” that found its way into literature. Hate’s hate…let’s give special status to a particular brand of hate? SIlly.
Looks like these kids were non selective…they hate everything. Every religion, every race, every thing.
Day off from school so they could stay out late…restore “Washington’s Birthday”.
avocet on February 21 at 12:26 p.m.
Agree with Daisy. The term “hate crime” is redundant. All crime is fueled by hate. You really can’t punish people for their thoughts, as hateful as they may be, only their actions.
At any rate, I hope they catch these losers and, at a minimum, make them pay for all that damage.
flutieflakes on February 21 at 12:38 p.m.
“All crime is fueled by hate.”
I disagree; crime is more often fueled by self-interests (namely, economical). There are certain crimes that offer the perpetrator nothing more than the satisfaction of having wronged an individual of a certain class.
I would generally agree that non-hate crimes are sometimes incorrectly considered hate crimes, though I don’t think that’s a valid excuse to get rid of the “hate crime” classification.
It sounds like for the perpetrators in this instance, their sheer stupidity is just as big of a threat to society as their hateful hearts. I hope they are caught and publicly shamed. I think that would have the greatest impact on these people.
spokanecommunistparty on February 21 at 2:06 p.m.
Mentally unwell people love freaking out about religion, this kid will need some happy pills before he ends up attacking some poor random family with a hammer. With out state run mental hospitals, we can expect to see allot more of these crazies running a muck.
SantaFe on February 21 at 4:22 p.m.
Whatever came about over in Coeur d’ Alene about 2 years ago with the man who said his black truck was vandalized, tires cut and words written on the side of the truck? Were the vandals found that did this? Or was it this man, himself that did the damage to his truck and blamed others? The Press never did a follow up story on this incident. Does anyone know the final conclusion to this incident?
polistra on February 21 at 5:37 p.m.
This is partly a consequence of school zero-tolerance policies. Teens are always competing, always looking for ways to move up in the hierarchy and push others down. That’s the whole purpose of adolescence, to establish your place in the status stack.
In earlier generations, schools and law enforcement had a ‘soft line’ allowing verbal hassles but not serious violence. This allowed most of the hormonal impulses to ventilate without doing permanent harm.
Now, thanks to PC and fear of lawsuits, policies forbid ALL normal teenage behavior. The kids respond with “in for a penny, in for a pound.” Nothing to lose. Might as well go all the way and make a big splash if you’ve already decided to make some trouble.
lynns on February 21 at 6:11 p.m.
Santa Fe: That is a good question. We don’t appear to have reported anything on that case since when it happened in December 2009: “Coeur d’Alene police said they are investigating the incident as a hate crime.”
Lynn, S-R online producer
SpokaneLiberal on February 21 at 9:32 p.m.
Hate crime is the press word for it. The state calls it malicious harassment.
TheRoyLarsen on February 22 at 5:58 a.m.
What if I hate crime?
condor on February 22 at 6:05 a.m.
This morning it is reported that this will not be classified as a hate crime.
I’m thinking the reason is that the victims are not of a minority persuasion. Has a hate crime ever been charged when the victim was a white christian?
SpokaneLiberal on February 22 at 10:47 a.m.
condor - yes. In Seattle two nonwhite men where prosecuted and sentenced under the malicious harassment law for attacking a white Christian teen.
TheRoyLarsen on February 23 at 6:08 a.m.
I hate the fact that they will not classify it a hate crime.