Council Member Bob Holden observing the ugly graffiti at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Elmhurst Park today (twitter)
June 2, 2021 By Christian Murray
Hate-filled vandals scrawled swastikas and other ugly messages on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Elmhurst Park today.
The graffiti blanketed the memorial that features the names of 371 service members from Queens who gave up their lives in the Vietnam war.
“This is the worst vandalism I have seen in all my years,” said Council Member Bob Holden. “It’s very crude. It’s anti God, anti-soldier, anti-police, anti-everything.”
The vandals sprayed the words “baby killers” and lewd statements about God, along with swastikas in several places.
Holden said that the graffiti comes just days after a number of Memorial Day events were held at the park. He said that the police have notified him that they will be pursuing this as a hate crime.
“This is an insult to the United States and to every freedom-loving member of New York City,” Holden said. “It’s an insult to the soldiers who died.”
I am deeply disgusted by this cowardly act of vandalism at the Queens Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
I am working @NYPD110Pct to make sure the perpetrator is brought to justice. I offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the sick soul who did it. pic.twitter.com/tKlcKzNsz8— Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) June 2, 2021
He noted that some of the graffiti is anti-NYPD, with a swastika scribbled next to the number 110, as in the 110th Precinct.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, who was the borough president when the memorial was completed in 2019, said that she would work with the NYPD to make sure the people responsible are held accountable.
The memorial sits on the northwest corner of Elmhurst Park, by the intersection of Grand Avenue and 79th Street. It features two walls facing each other and a flag poll.
“This is only Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Queens that pays homage to all the fallen service men and women from this borough,” Katz, who visited the ugly scene today, said. “The attack on the memorial, in this park, is a foul, criminal act.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz assessing the hate-filled graffiti at the memorial today (Photo: Courtesy of DA Katz)
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