Campaign signs in Huntington Beach for state Sen. Dave Min‘s congressional bid were vandalized this week with racist, anti-Asian slurs, the Huntington Beach Police Department said.
Min, who is Korean American, is running in California’s 47th congressional district, which spans the Orange County coastline.
Investigators are looking into the case as a potential hate crime, according to police department spokesperson Jessica Cuchilla, noting that the investigation is ongoing.
A video shared by Min’s campaign on YouTube showed that the slurs were spray-painted onto the blue signs lining a roadway. According to his campaign, supporters living in the area discovered the vandalized signs while walking their children to school Tuesday morning.
Police were first alerted around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, near Newland Street and Lamar Drive, Cuchilla said, where they found five to six signs vandalized with a derogatory slang term for an Asian person.
“Hate of any kind, directed against anyone, is unacceptable. Full stop,” Min said in a statement Tuesday.
Min connected the display of racism targeting his campaign to the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, this year’s Republican presidential nominee.
“We have seen a sharp rise in hate in recent years due to the xenophobia and racism that have come to define Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. We’ve all seen and heard Trump’s anti-Asian rhetoric and his racist comments about Haitian immigrants,” said Min. “It is saddening, but not surprising, that we are seeing this type of anti-Asian hate in the immediate aftermath of the Trump MAGA event in Huntington Beach this weekend.”
A pro-Trump rally was held at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in downtown Huntington Beach on Sunday, Oct. 6, according to social media posts. Cuchilla said the rallies have been occurring regularly for several weeks in the area. Trump was not in attendance.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Min also said Orange County residents are “being bombarded with Scott Baugh and MAGA Republican hit pieces baselessly claiming I want to create open borders because I’m the child of immigrants.”
Baugh, an attorney who served as a Republican Assemblymember and later chaired the Orange County GOP, is also vying for the open CA-47 seat. This is one of the most closely-watched House races in Southern California, part of several that will determine which party controls the House next year.
“We condemn any vandalism of property, including the political signs of any candidate for public office,” Nic Gerard, Baugh’s spokesperson, said in a statement. “And, as Scott has repeatedly said, there is absolutely no room for racism of any kind in America.”
“Our campaign has also had signs both stolen and vandalized,” Gerard said. “Should any information regarding the perpetrators of the vandalism or theft become known to us, we will share with law enforcement. We hope the Min campaign would do the same.”
On Tuesday, Min received support from several elected officials on social media, including state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, who said the “hate attack will generate even greater support for his candidacy.” Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, also expressed her support, urging supporters to contribute to Min’s campaign.
“It’s exhausting to fight hate and racism,” she said.
A second case of vandalized Min signs near Magnolia Street and Mediterranean Drive was reported around 2 p.m., officials said Tuesday night, but these signs did not include racist or derogatory language. Police arrested a Fountain Valley man for vandalism causing $400 or more after finding him in a nearby area. Investigators do not believe the two incidents of vandalism are connected, Cuchilla said.
