An Oakland Street homeowner’s “Black Lives Matter” sign was vandalized Aug. 5 with blue spray paint and the phrase “Blue Lives Matter” painted prominently on his garage door and picket fence, according to a police report.
Thomas J. Schneider, 94 Oakland St., alerted police at 6:52 a.m. on Aug. 5 that a “Black Lives Matter” sign in his front yard had been spray-painted blue and that vandals also spray-painted “Blue Lives Matter” on his garage door.
Later that day, Elise Schneider called police to report they found their fence that faces St. Nicholas Avenue vandalized with “Blue Lives Matter” spray-painted on it. Schneider told police he believed the vandalism took place sometime between midnight and when he awoke early that morning, said the report.
Police said they checked surrounding homes for security video but were unsuccessful. Also, a check of the neighborhood for additional vandalism turned up nothing, police said.
Schneider filed a criminal mischief complaint with investigating Patrol Officer Matthew Soltes.
Schneider wrote in a Facebook post, “I have no issues with people disagreeing with mine or my family’s views. We can debate our differing views vigorously. The moment you trespass onto my property, and vandalize my home, you’ve made yourself an enemy.”
Schneider posted photos on Facebook showing defacement of his Black Lives Matter sign, garage door and fence.
“Obviously this individual is a very brave and bold soul. Knock on my door and tell me you’re going to do this…let’s see how that works out for you,” he wrote.
Friends and neighbors chimed in on Facebook decrying the damage and supporting Schneider.
“I’m so sorry you were victimized by this pathetic excuse for a human,” wrote one commenter.
Schneider replied: “I’d like to say these vandals are ignorant, but can’t. They’re just plain stupid. You can fix ignorance…you can’t fix stupid.”
Elise Schneider added a suggestion: “Parents, ask your kids what they are seeing and hearing among peers (particularly the middle and high school). You may be surprised. Intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism—these are not born but learned at home. It’s time to stop sweeping the unpleasantness under the rug.”
Another commenter noted the irony of the situation: “This person, who claims to care so much for the police, has now added an additional burden (finding the person(s) who did this) to our police departments overloaded plate. The police are already overtaxed due to the pandemic, widespread power outages, and general storm clean-up.”
Detective Dan McLaughlin said Aug. 6 that the investigation was ongoing.
“A canvass of the neighborhood was completed with negative results, no witnesses have come forward,” he told Pascack Press.
“Thank you all for the kind words, encouragement and support regarding the vandalism done to our home yesterday. I’m happy to see that there are people out there with kind hearts,” wrote Tom Schneider Aug. 6.
He thanked Hillsdale police for their quick response and Councilman Anthony DeRosa for stopping by to express his “personal disgust, offering encouragement, and a promise to deal with this sort of awful bias in an effective and inclusive manner.”
“We moved to Hillsdale for good reason. Let’s hope we can return our little town to the quiet, friendly community that attracted us here 20-plus years ago,” he added.
According to the Black Lives Matter website, the organization was founded in 2013 in response to “the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer.” Florida resident Gorge Zimmerman was acquitted in the teenager’s death after a jury trial.
Black Lives Matter is a global organization in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada “whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives,” states its website.
Blue Lives Matter, according to Wikipedia, is a countermovement in the U.S. advocating that those who are prosecuted and convicted of killing law enforcement officers should be sentenced under hate crime statutes.
“It was started in response to Black Lives Matter after the homicides of NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in Brooklyn on Dec. 20, 2014,” states the online encyclopedia.
According to Wikipedia, a group of law enforcement officers formed Blue Lives Matter to counter media reports that they considered to be anti-police.