Front-yard swastika display angers El Sobrante residents again
EL SOBRANTE, CA JUNE 27: A truck rests on a driveway with a concrete swastika at the home of Steven Johnson in El Sobrante, Calif., on Saturday, June 27, 2020. Johnson installed the large swastika over a year ago. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Its beginning to feel a bit like deja vu for El Sobrante residents who say they are in no mood for hate symbols in their neighborhood.
But Steven Johnsons creation a stone garden in the shape of a Nazi swastika is back to being displayed prominently in the front yard of his home on Lindell Drive. Now, barely a year after neighbors organized to call for Johnson to remove the concrete swastika, theyre doing so again.
I dont think its ever not been offensive, area resident Charles Erdmann said Friday. Its just amplified that much more now. Thats why circling back on this is so important. Its always been the symbol of the Holocaust, and now its a prominent symbol for white supremacy. So in our opinion, it has no place here.
As a result, a petition created last year by neighbors calling for Johnson to remove the stone garden had gathered nearly 48,000 signatures by Saturday morning.
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https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/06/27/swastika-stone-garden-angers-el-sobrante-residents-again/