Father, son remove swastika spray-painted on Ukrainian flag in Sacramento County
"It makes me worry about our community
By Brittany Hope
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SACRAMENTO COUNTY, California (KCRA) — The organization Ukrainian American House said someone spray painted a swastika over its large Ukrainian flag in Sacramento County early Sunday morning.
Surveillance video obtained by KCRA 3 shows a person spray painting a swastika onto the flag that hangs outside the organization’s building, located on Auburn Boulevard near Hemlock Street in North Highlands. The video also shows the person walking around the building and in its parking lot.
“It makes me worry about our community, our people,” Vlad Skots, the organization’s chairman, said.
Skots said he reported the incident to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and provided investigators with the surveillance video. KCRA 3 is still waiting to hear back from the sheriff’s office.
By late Sunday morning, Skots said the swastika had been covered up by a Ukrainian man and his son who were on the way to a church nearby when they saw the swastika.
“They went to the store,” he said. “They bought paint, and multiple times just painted over the symbol.”
Because of their actions, the same flag is still hanging outside the building.
Skots said he hopes the flag staying up sends a message to the community and to whoever did this, especially now. This week marks one year since Russia launched its war on Ukraine.
“No matter what problems today are facing Ukraine, Ukrainian people, and the world, we will stand together,” Skots said. “We will support each other, no matter what difficulties we are facing in our life, and we will win.”
Ukrainian American House is not letting this stop its mission. On Friday, it is hosting a large rally at 5:00 p.m. at the state Capitol in solidarity with Ukraine, one year after Russia invaded the country.
Although Skots said this is the first time the organization has been hit by vandalism and antisemitism, this has happened before in the area.
Multiple incidents of antisemitism have been reported nearly four miles south of the organization, in Carmichael.
On multiple occasions, white supremacist leaflets were found in neighborhoods.
A synagogue was also vandalized with pictures of Adolf Hitler.
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