WATERLOO — Vandals struck the home of an openly gay candidate for the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday night.
Candidate Chris Schwartz said the damage — which includes slurs painted on campaign signs in his yard — is a targeted hate crime.
“They hit my signs and our front door, which is more concerning. It’s basically a death threat,” Schwartz said.
Scrawled across his front door in black paint are the words “Lev 20:13,” a likely reference to Leviticus 20:13, a Bible verse that states: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death.”
The slur “fag” was painted on a blue Schwartz campaign sign, and “Trmp” was painted on a Clinton-Kane sign. Other candidate signs in his yard had black lines sprayed across them.
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A Schwartz sign in a neighbor’s yard — some 20 feet from the damaged signs — was untouched.
“This isn’t from the neighborhood. We have lots of respect in this neighborhood because we’ve lived here a long time and have done a lot of work here,” Schwartz said.
Waterloo Police photographed the vandalism Thursday morning, but no arrests have been made.
Schwartz said the attack came in the midst of a heated social media battle after Cedar Valley Patriots for Christ took aim at his campaign and Schwartz’s background as an organizer of PrideFest, an annual gay-rights event in Waterloo.
The Patriots Facebook page Sunday called PrideFest a “celebration of sin” and called Schwartz a pro-gay socialist who would increase the minimum wage, hurt businesses and bring debauchery to the community.
“Christians in our community better start stepping up and put a stop to this!” the post continues.
Several online exchanges continued throughout the week, and Judd Saul, leader of Cedar Valley Patriots for Christ, said Schwartz politicized the matter by calling Patriots a “hate group.”
On Thursday morning, Saul said he thinks the vandalism is a hoax.
“This is right out of the socialism playbook in politics, to create phony crises and try to capitalize on it,” Saul said. “I think they did it themselves.”
Even so, Saul, who admitted there’s a chance someone else was behind the damage, said his group will contribute funds to clean up of Schwartz’s property.
“We will contribute to the cleanup cost of Chris Schwartz’s house,” Saul said.
Saul said Patriots is not a hate group.
“None of anyone who attends Patriots for Christ, and not myself, condone any kind of violence against anybody for their personal stances or beliefs,” Saul said. “As Christians, we are supposed to preach and proclaim the Gospel, and it’s up to them to accept or reject the Gospel. We don’t force it on anybody.”
Prior to the vandalism, Schwartz had criticized the Republican supervisor candidates —- John Dodge, Chad Folken and Terry Scheffert —- for “remaining silent” as the Facebook battle waged. He also noted Saul donated to Dodge’s campaign.
Dodge said he chooses to avoid engaging in online bickering, adding someone making a donation to his campaign does not speak for him.
“Social media can be a tool for instigation and not a medium for polite discourse of opinions,” Dodge said. “When I have been heckled online I have chosen to not engage as it benefits no one.”
Scheffert said Schwartz was “out of line” for dragging him into the debate and attacking him “on my beliefs or what he thinks my beliefs are.” Scheffert said he hasn’t said anything about PrideFest.
Folken said he found it “troubling that Chris Schwartz is attacking a local religious group for expressing their First Amendment right to free speech” in the Facebook posts.
Black Hawk County Democrats issued a statement through Chairwoman Pat Sass in which they “strongly condemn vandalism of property in conjunction with the election campaign, including defacing, destroying or stealing campaign yard signs,” and especially the “hate crime” at Schwartz’s home.
“The victim of this act is not only Mr. Schwartz, but also our entire democratic election process,” the statement said.
Republicans of Black Hawk County also condemned the vandalism “and sincerely hope the perpetrators are caught and punished.” They also asked everyone to let the criminal investigation run its course before placing blame and called for civility.
“We encourage all sides in this election cycle to take a minute, take a deep breath, turn off Facebook and Twitter and remember that we are, regardless of our different beliefs, all a part of the Cedar Valley,” county Republicans said. “Freedom of speech should rule the day, not some idiot with a can of spray paint. Let’s get back to the issues, and let’s be civil.”