CINCINNATI, Ohio — A Cincinnati couple returned from visiting their daughter over Thanksgiving to find a rental property they owned trashed and vandalized with swastikas.
“They hit every cabinet with paint,” Pat Jude told WCPO. “They hit every wall with paint. They hit every appliance, they poured paint into the appliances. They poured cement down the drains.”
Pat and her husband Joe planned to retire in the house, but the damage will require extensive repairs.
“I mean there is nothing that is salvageable,” Pat said.
The vandals also kicked the stair railing down and opened the pipes on the second floor, causing flooding and parts of the ceiling to fall. Along with the swastikas spray painted on the walls were the words “White Power.”
“When I walked in, it just shook me,” Pat said. “It just floored me that somebody could spread so much hate.”
The Judes say this incident isn’t their family’s first run-in with discrimination. Six years ago, their 16-year-old son took his own life after being bullied for being biracial, his family says.
“We’ve gone through that,” Pat said. “You never get over it, but then you come in here, and it’s the same kind of stuff.”
The Judes are asking for help identifying the culprits.
“If anybody saw anything, please help us solve this crime,” Pat said. “Somebody must have seen something.”
