Colorado Civil Rights and Community Organizations Express Gratitude to Larimer County Sheriff’s Office

Denver, CO, September 19, 2011…In response to the reported vandalism of three school buses with swastikas and anti-gay slurs at Grant Family Farms, three civil rights and community organizations condemned the hateful messages and expressed gratitude toward the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office for its quick and responsive actions investigating this incident as a bias-motivated crime.

The following statement was issued by Scott L. Levin, the Anti-Defamation League’s Mountain States Regional Director; Brad Clark, One Colorado’s Executive Director; and Gregg Drinkwater, Keshet’s Deputy Director for Research and Special Projects:

We condemn this hateful act. Hate crimes send a message to their targeted audience and to the entire community that all are not welcome and safe. We call upon all Coloradans to declare that everyone, of any race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, or ability, is equally protected and included in our society.

“We are grateful to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office for its quick and responsive actions investigating this incident as a possible bias-motivated crime.”

 The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry. Learn more at adl.org/mountain-states. 

One Colorado is a statewide advocacy organization dedicated to securing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Coloradans. Learn more at one-colorado.org. 

Keshet is a national grassroots organization that works for the full inclusion of LGBT Jews in Jewish life. Learn more at Keshetonline.org.