Oregon mayor stunned to find dead raccoon and sign with ‘racially hateful’ message outside his office naming city’s first-ever black councilman
- Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch found the raccoon and sign Monday
- The sign listed Alderman Clifford Evelyn of Fitch and Redmond by name
- Fitch called the sign’s language “racially hateful,” but declined to elaborate
An Oregon mayor was shocked to find a dead raccoon outside his law office and a “racially hate speech” sign naming the city’s first-ever black alderman, police said.
Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch discovered the raccoon and sign Monday, the Redmond Police Department said in a press release.
The sign bore the name of Alderman Clifford Evelyn of Fitch and Redmond, police said.
Fitch called the sign’s language “racially hateful.” He declined to elaborate on the exact message on the board, but told The Bulletin, “I feel sorry for Clifford.”
“It seems some people in town can’t accept that Clifford is black and on the city council.”
Someone left a dead raccoon and a sign with “harassing language” mentioning a black city councilman outside an Oregon mayor’s law office, police say
Police are not disclosing the exact language of the sign to preserve the integrity of the investigation, city spokesman Heather Cassaro said.
Police said they are investigating the act as a possible second-degree felony.
Evelyn, a retired law enforcement officer who was elected to the council in 2021, described the act as a hate crime but said she has confidence in the police investigation. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
Raccoon imagery has long been an offensive, anti-black caricature in the United States.
With roots in slavery, it is one of “the most blatantly demeaning of all black stereotypes,” according to the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery in Michigan.
In recent years, a black teen from Redmond found a threatening message on her doorstep while a failed Deschutes County Commission candidate displayed a Confederate flag during the town’s Fourth of July parade.
“People in this part of the country will have to catch up,” Evelyn said. “It’s only the dorks who can’t get on track. And they harm everyone and make us look bad.”
Fitch decides to continue with business as usual after witnessing this.
The sign listed Mayor Ed Fitch and Alderman Clifford Evelyn (pictured) of Redmond by name, police said
Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch found the raccoon and sign Monday, the Redmond Police Department said in a press release
“I’m just not going to give in to cowards,” he said. “It’s sad to see people doing something like this because it’s not a reflection of our community and the people who live here.”
Redmond Police Chief Devil Lewis said in a statement that his department “will not tolerate hate speech of any kind against any person or group.”
“We will work quickly to resolve this matter and seek to hold accountable those who did this to our community.”
“We all know our community is better than this, and we will continue in that spirit,” Fitch added.