— from Rhea Miller —
In the late evening of August 14, yet another party attempted to destroy the Black Lives Matter Memorial display on Lopez. On Wednesday, August 13, [a man] was arrested for deliberately trying to tear down the memorial. He was only able to destroy five of the signs before citizens passing by, and then the Sheriff, stopped him.
An earlier attempt at destruction of the signs by a local couple had resulted in the signs being repaired by concerned citizens. This third attempt on Friday, August 14, was successful in destroying all but two of the signs.
From 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the following morning, the owners of the property held vigil in the sign carnage. Passers-by honked their horns in support of the signs, waved, and several stopped and joined the vigil. People expressed how much the signs had meant to them. A gathering is being held Sunday, August 16, in the nearby area outside the community center to begin a community conversation, and renew the signs. The signs are scheduled to be removed on September 22 with ceremony.
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Has the ugliness and polarization of this time in our lives, trying our patience, our civility, and our souls, come to San Juan County? Do the signs that say “We’re All In This Together” mean anything to those involved in these incidents? We can and must do better, Mr. Lewis.
Despicable behavior by the people destroying the signs -on so many levels.
As a Lopezian, I am appalled. And embarrassed for our island. There is no excuse. We, as a nation, must do better.
I hope the Sheriff locks this jerk up and throws away the key.
Name, please? We should hound him off the islands.
Michael, we purposely omitted the suspect’s name.
I appreciate the “Do better” and “behavior” comments.
Mr. Riordan and Ms. McNulty,
The Islands Sounder has identified him as Dwight Lewis, the owner of Windsock Farms on Lopez.
Oh, THAT jerk.
I’ve watched him in action at OPALCO Board meetings.
I visited Lopez for the first time on the 10th and stayed at the Edelman Boutique Hotel. (Jackie was wonderful) I can say as a black woman, I didn’t necessarily feel unwelcome in Lopez, but at the same time I didn’t feel welcome. But that of course could have been my perception. Then I looked up the demographics of Lopez and it wasn’t that shocking. But as I was leaving Lopez I saw these signs for the first time, as I came up a different way, cause I was unfamiliar with the layout. It honestly felt very genuine, especially for a community that has almost no black people. And for some reason that made me feel better. I appreciated that. ☺️