Brandon police said Sunday (July17) they had received several calls about a hate symbol painted on the large rock overlooking the Walmart parking lot off 18th Street North.
We received a couple of photos from Paul Mc prior to the rock being repainted showing a Nazi Swastika.
(Images – Paul Mc)
Sunday afternoon, Happy Rock was found repainted blue with the initials J.H. covering the swastika. Chauntelle Dawn Robbins commented on Q Country’s Facebook page that the initials “RIP JH” are for Jonathan Hofer who died in a car accident on Grand Valley Road in Brandon on the Victoria Day long weekend. She says “his friends wanted to show their love for him, and it helped the grieving process.”
(Image – Q Country/Star FM News)
There’s no report about who may have painted the hate symbol on the boulder.
According to Wikipedia, “the swastika symbol is an ancient religious symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. As a result of World War II and the Holocaust, in the West it continues to be strongly associated with Nazism, antisemitism, white supremacism, or simply evil.”
