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Vandals Target Nebraska GOP Campaign Office by Breaking Window, Spray Painting 'Abolish ICE' on Sidewalk

Kenny Zoeller speaks outside the vandalized Republican Party of Nebraska office / Video Screenshot
July 3, 2018

The Republican Party of Nebraska campaign office was targeted overnight Tuesday by an unknown number of vandals who shattered a large window with a brick and spray painted "Abolish ICE" on the sidewalk in front of the office.

Police officers told KETV, a local news station in Omaha, that a newspaper delivery carrier contacted them shortly after 3 a.m. to notify them the campaign office was vandalized over night. The damage is estimated to cost at least $1,200.

The "Abolish ICE" slogan has become a rallying cry for liberal immigration activists to push back on the Trump administration's controversial zero tolerance immigration policy of arresting, jailing and deporting people attempting to cross the U.S. border.

Republican officials in Nebraska said Tuesday that they planned on boarding up the windows, so that volunteers could continue making calls on behalf of the Republican candidates, including incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer (R., Neb.), at the Lincoln office, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

The Nebraska Republican Party tweeted out pictures of the shattered window and spray painted sidewalk, saying, "While they vandalize, we organize."

Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, released a statement condemning the attack on the campaign office, saying the state of national politics is in a "terrifying place."

"I think it’s a terrifying place that our country is in right now, where people are resorting to violence, vandalism and death threats to political leaders, staff members and candidates," she said. "And it's happening to all of us."

Kenny Zoeller, the executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, held a press conference for nearly twenty minutes to answer questions about the incident, make it clear the party was opposed to violent acts taken on behalf of any party, and to condemn violent rhetoric from the Democratic party.

"This destructive criminal activity is disappointing, but unsurprising, given the increasingly radical rhetoric of national Democrat leaders and candidates like Jane Raybould, Kara Eastman, and Jane Kleeb," Zoeller said in a statement. "Violence is the natural result of the Left's statements urging Democrats to literally 'push back' on Republicans and 'resist' at any cost. Voters face a stark choice between sanity and the rabid, hateful words that sparked this vandalism."

This is not the first time a Republican office has been vandalized in Nebraska, as Fischer's Lincoln office was vandalized back in December. The vandals scratched out Fischer's name on the building directory and wrote a "nasty name," according to Sgt. Randy Clark, who wouldn't disclose the name that was used.