Rochester legislator wakes up to racist graffiti at her house
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Minnesota Rep. Kim Hicks, DFL-Rochester, woke up to Nazi symbols and racial slurs spray-painted on her home Saturday morning.
“There is no way to spin this that it wasn’t a racial hate crime against a biracial family who happened to have an elected official as a mother,” said Hicks, who represents District 25A.
Hicks is white and lives in a mixed household, with a Black husband and six children.
The Rochester Democrat posted photos of the aftermath to Facebook Saturday, revealing political signs defaced with the N-word and white supremacist language. Other photos show a vandalized window and shed spray-painted with a swastika.
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“I’m really sorry that [the vandalizers are] so afraid of equity and so afraid of a diverse, wonderful, inclusive Minnesota,” said Hicks in an interview with MPR News. “Their fear will not stop us from creating a Minnesota where everybody is valued, everybody is welcomed, and everyone is cared for.”
The social media post was met with an outpouring of public support for the family. Hicks said neighbors and other elected officials filtered in during the day on Saturday, helping wash away and cover up the vandalism until no trace was left. It was a diverse group of people, she said — a mix of races, genders, religions and ages.
“That’s who Rochester is, that’s who Minnesota is, that’s who we are,” Hicks said. “We showed up in the middle of the day without masks on and worked together to rectify the hate that these small-minded people did in the middle of the night with masks … we bring people together and they want to tear us apart.”
Police are investigating the incident, she added.
Both the Midwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League and Minnesota Council on American-Islamic Relations issued statements in support of Hicks and her family, condemning the act.
Hicks was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2002. She serves on several committees, including the Human Services Policy and Finance committees.