A Washington state mayor has blasted 'BLM' graffiti sprayed on her home 'domestic terrorism' weeks after she pledged support for protests and refused to impose a curfew.
Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby slammed rioters who vandalized her home Friday night, after one person was caught on surveillance camera spray painting her front porch and door with the words 'racist' and 'BLM'.
'I'm really trying to process this,' Selby told The Olympian Saturday.
'It's like domestic terrorism. It's unfair. It hurts when you're giving so much to your community.'
Her comments came after the mayor previously made a show of solidarity with peaceful protesters in the city, who gathered to demand an end to police brutality and systemic racism following the 'murder' of black man George Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin on Memorial Day.
'Let me be clear: The City of Olympia supports the peaceful protests that highlight the racial injustices black people continue to endure at the hands of police in the United States,' Selby said in a press conference on June 5.
'Every day since his murder, our country has shaken. Convulsing between fear, rage, and nausea. We should feel sick. Those of us who hold the most microphones in our communities should feel nauseous.'
Olympia is 'not without sin in this matter', she added.
'We are a predominantly white community next to communities that are far more diverse,' she said.
'That tells us that we are not, we have not been as welcoming and nurturing to communities of color as we'd like to think. The light switched on in America by Mr. Floyd's murder shines glaringly on Olympia, as well.'
Selby said she would not impose a curfew on protesters and instead asked citizens to self-police.
But self-policing appeared to fall short after her own home became the target of vandals Friday night.
The mayor told King 5 Monday it had been 'difficult' to see footage of a woman tagging her home and rioters gathered outside the property bearing flames.
'That was difficult, to see the anger in the crowd,' said Selby, who was not present at the property at the time.
However, she reinforced her previous claims that she agrees with what the mostly peaceful protesters are campaigning for.
'We're just beginning to chip away at institutional racism in law enforcement across the country, but also in our own community,' Selby told King 5.
She added that there is 'no quick fix' but that she is committed to working with the community to determine what a revamped or defunded Olympia police force could look like.
'We definitely will be pulling people around a table to discuss what defunding or reallocation for public safety means,' said Selby.
The rally over Floyd's death turned destructive Friday night after a small group of people defied the efforts of peaceful protesters and smashed windows, burned flags and sprayed graffiti on the sides of buildings around the city.
According to The Olympian, two groups descended on downtown Olympia - a group of around 50 black-clad protesters attending a rally at Sylvester Park and a group of around 30 sporting yellow T-shirts with the word 'peacekeeper' on.
The black-clad group marched to City Hall turning over road signs while the peacemakers tidied up in their wake, The Olympian reported.
The black-clad group then headed up Capitol Way before convening outside Selby's house in the South Capitol neighborhood.
After tagging her property they then headed downtown, where some spray painted store fronts and smashed the windows of a Starbucks and US Bank.
The chaos across the city comes five years after protests erupted when a white Olympia cop shot two black men after they allegedly tried to steal beer from a supermarket.
Officer Ryan Donald, then-35, shot brothers Bryson Chaplin and Andre Thompson, both then-24, after he was called to the Westside Safeway store over an alleged robbery.
The cop, who had no injuries, claimed he had been assaulted with a skateboard by the two men.
The cop was cleared of all wrongdoing while the two black men, one of whom was left paralyzed from the waist down, were charged with assault.
The incident sparked protests and led to some police reform, including the 2016 public safety levy to refocus efforts on community policing.
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