The Seminole County GOP building in Casselberry was vandalized over the weekend with a message calling the organization “fascists,” according to a police report.
The Casselberry Police Department report said an officer responded to a criminal mischief complaint 10 a.m. Monday at the Seminole GOP’s office on State Road 436.
Republican Party District Manager Brandon Frey told police a person spray painted the front windowpane of the building between 4:45 p.m. Sunday and 9:30 a.m. the following day.
The Seminole County GOP office was vandalized overnight. The criminals echoed Biden’s “fascists” slander.
There is no place for violence in our political discourse, and the GOP will not be intimidated. pic.twitter.com/fmiiMVmi0t
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) August 29, 2022
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A Seminole County GOP Facebook page post shows the words “Eat s— fascists,” in mustard-colored spray paint on the entrance to the building along with an anarchy symbol at the bottom. According to the report, the front door lock had also been super glued.
There is no surveillance video, the report said. Frey did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The words in spray paint have been removed.
The Seminole County GOP said on its Facebook page, “our answer to hate, clean up and move on.”
On Twitter, national GOP chairperson Ronna McDaniel blamed the defacement on President Joe Biden’s remarks last week at a Democratic rally in Maryland, calling out what he calls “extreme” Republicans for embracing “semi-fascism” and “political violence.”
“The criminals echoed Biden’s ‘fascists’ slander,” she said in a Twitter post. “There is no place for violence in our political discourse, and the GOP will not be intimidated.”
On the Seminole County GOP Facebook page post, Linda Trocine, state committeewoman, commented that the “Seminole County GOP will not be intimidated by the fascists posing as anti-fascists. The Republican Party is the party of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and putting #AmericaFirst.”
The graffiti was discovered the same day that a criminal trial began for the Seminole GOP’s chair, Ben Paris, in a case that emerged from Florida’s “ghost” candidate scandal.
Paris is accused of using his cousin’s name to conceal a contribution to independent candidate Jestine Iannotti’s campaign in 2020. Iannotti, who didn’t campaign for office, was promoted by Republican operatives as a progressive in an apparent scheme to siphon votes away from the Democrat in the race, helping Sen. Jason Brodeur win the seat.
At the time of the race, Brodeur was Paris’ boss at the Seminole County Chamber of Commerce. Brodeur has denied any knowledge of his former employee’s actions.
Paris has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge he faces.
arabines@orlandosentinel.com
