HARTFORD, Conn. — A Black Lives Matter mural steps from the Capitol is the latest site of a hate crime investigation in Connecticut—it’s also one of several currently under investigation by a new hate crime unit within Connecticut State Police.
In a press conference Monday at Connecticut State Police headquarters in Middletown, Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner James Rovella says hate crimes are a “disgusting trend” committed by lone individuals and occasionally organized groups. Despite being the third smallest state, officials said Connecticut ranks 9th in instances of hate crimes.
“Keep looking over your shoulders because once you cross that line into criminality, you’ll bear the full brunt of our efforts,” Rovella said.
A three-page letter inside a zip lock bag, left in more than 100 driveways in Thompson was ripe with anti-queer language, usage of the n-word, and against “low-income housing breeders.”
“It was racist, it was sexist, it was homophobic, and it was anti-Semitic,” Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said.
Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz and members of the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and state police say one in 10 Connecticut communities have been targeted with white supremist flyers and messages.
“This is a small, small fraction of who Thompson is,” Amy St. Onge Frist Selectman Thompson said.
A newly repainted Black Lives Matter mural in Hartford, steps from the Capitol was the latest target.
“I think we were just kind of devastated as an art community to know that somebody would do this to our artwork. We spent a lot of time and dedication to try and get this done for the city,” Artist Lashawn Robinson-Nuhu said Sunday morning after artists gearing up for Hartford’s Juneteenth celebration Sunday were met with a swastika and hate language, which they promptly painted over Sunday morning after Hartford Police investigated.
Back in Thompson, longtime residents like Bob Farrell say there’s no place for hate in the quiet corner.
“It’s a quiet place to live and we haven’t had any trouble up till now,” Farrell said.
But the Groh family, which was personally targeted in the letter want perpetrators brought to justice.
“Especially stings deeply for my wife Erica and I as it targeted three generations of our family members. That letter was trying to intimidate politicians, intimidate voters,” Former First selectman Larry Groh said.
CSP is investigating two instances of hate crimes in the northeast corner. The other involves a minor. They’ve made three hate crime arrests to date in 2023. The Connecticut Anti-Defamation League says there’s been a 265 percent increase in reports of hate crime incidents.
If you have any knowledge of a hate crime in your community, you are encouraged to report it to CSP’s Hate Crime Unit via email at hate.crimes@ct.gov.
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