North Carolina’s Republican Party headquarters were firebombed on Saturday night, and graffitied with a swastika and the words “Nazi Republicans leave town or else.”
The damage was discovered Sunday morning by another business owner, who reported it around 9 a.m., according to the city of Hillsborough’s website. Local police said the flammable substance appears to have been ignited inside the building, likely from within a bottle tossed through one of the front windows. An investigation is ongoing.
The city posted a statement from the town’s mayor, Tom Stevens:
“This highly disturbing act goes far beyond vandalizing property; it willfully threatens our community’s safety via fire, and its hateful message undermines decency, respect and integrity in civic participation,” Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens said. “I believe I speak for the overwhelming majority of people who make Hillsborough their home: Acts like this have no place in our community. Our law enforcement officials are responding quickly and thoroughly to investigate this reprehensible act and prosecute the perpetrators.”
Governor Pat McCrory also released a statement, via the Charlotte Observer:
The firebombing of a local political headquarters in Orange County is clearly an attack on our democracy,” McCrory said in a statement. “Violence has no place in our society – but especially in our elections. … I will use every resource as governor to assist local authorities in this investigation.”
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were quick to comment on the incident, though in somewhat…different fashions:
The arson comes on the heels of Trump’s latest invective against the media, which he claims has single-handedly rigged the election against him.
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