Sacto 9-1-1: Kings player's mural defaced with swastika again

Sacto 9-1-1

Most Wanted | Crimemapper | Arrest Logs | Crime databases | Crime News | Ask Sacto 9-1-1

September 16, 2010

Kings player's mural defaced with swastika again

By Kim Minugh
kiminugh@sacbee.com

A midtown mural depicting Sacramento Kings player Omri Casspi recently was defaced with a swastika - the second time in a week, according to authorities.

An unidentified caller reported the vandalism on the mural - painted along the east side of 16th street, south of Q Street - to city officials about 10:30 a.m., said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong. City workers painted over the swastika shortly thereafter.

Leong said it's unclear when the vandalism occurred, though it likely was recent.

A mural depicting the Kings' Omri Casspi, was defaced for a second time in a week on Thursday. City workers quickly touched up the mural. photo by Randy Pench

Last week, city officials were alerted to a swastika painted on the forehead of Casspi, who is from Israel. Leong said police have no leads on that crime, or the more recent one.

And although police take the matter seriously, Leong said, officers have little to go on without tips from the community.

"We continue to hope that someone will provide information," he said.

He went on to say that such a hate-crime is "not acceptable" in the city of Sacramento, adding "I don't think it's a reflection of our community, being as diverse as we are."

Sacramento's Crime Alert organization is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information regarding the crime. Recently, officials from the Anti-Defamation League supplemented that reward with an additional $1,000.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP (4357).

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

KCRA: Kings mural vandal called 'village idiot'

Previous coverage:

Casspi 'hurt' by defaced mural - Sept. 10, 2010

Swastika painted on Kings mural in Sacramento - Sept. 9, 2010

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying