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 Less
than 24 hours before Pres. George Bush and Sen. John Kerry unleashed
a barrage of political rhetoric, someone delivered a dangerous blow
to local Democrats.
Around
3 a.m. Thursday morning, a vandal threw cinderblocks through two
windows of the Watauga County Democratic Party Headquarters on King
Street.
Josh
Beckworth, who lives nearby, reported the incident to Boone Police.
“I
just got in bed and was about to go to sleep and I heard this awful
glass crashing. I thought someone was robbing the (Mountain Pirate)
again, so I came out,” Beckworth said.
“He
ran to the right between Whitener Hall and the Baptist Church there.
He was a brown-headed younger guy who had on a black T-shirt and
khaki shorts,” Beckworth said.
Watauga
County Democratic Party chair Sue Sweeting said the incident was
politically motivated and a sign of the emotions attached to the
upcoming election.
“The
violence has certainly escalated,” Sweeting said. She added
that in addition to the attack on the headquarters, someone painted
“No Winston” messages on a road in the Stoney Fork community.
Winston
Kinsey is a candidate for Watauga County Commissioner in District
5.
“There
was ugliness during the last election with people going into yards
and taking signs down, but this is crazy. This is deliberate violence
against neighbors and we need to be concerned as a community,”
Sweeting said.
Denny
Norris of the Watauga County Republican Party agrees with Sweeting.
“I
don’t condone any kind of damage to a political sign, much
less rocks thrown through glass. We don’t want anybody hurt,”
Norris said.
The
headquarters’ custom-sized windows cannot be immediately replaced,
so plywood will serve as a temporary patch.
“This
won’t stop us — we will continue to operate our normal
hours,” Sweeting said.
Boone
Police responded to the scene. No arrests have been made but the
incident is under further investigation.
The
vandalism comes on the heels of nationwide reports of apparently
politically motivated vandalism.
On
September 4, The Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle reported that rocks
and eggs were thrown through the window of a local GOP headquarter
and peace signs were spray-painted on the building.
Frank
Ruggiero contributed to this report.
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