Rep. Shri Thanedar community center in Detroit vandalized with 'ceasefire' message

Over the weekend, vandals spray-painted a Detroit building used by U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar for community events on Livernois Avenue in the city's University District, putting a red X through his photo and tagging exterior walls with the words "racist," "ceasefire" and "Free Palestine.”

Thanedar said some of the damage was done Sunday, but the Detroit Democrat found more had been added overnight when he arrived Monday morning. He said he intended to report the incident to police but had not yet done so.

The congressman called the graffiti unfortunate and "very upsetting."

"I’m always open for dialogue, and I've had many phone calls, in-person meetings and town halls," Thanedar told The Detroit News. "I’m open to talking about this and working on it, but this is not going to gain sympathy for their cause."

Thanedar also referred to incidents when protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas showed up at his home in Palmer Woods at 3 a.m., honking horns and using a megaphone, and also disrupted a holiday party organized by local Democrats at a bar in Detroit's Cass Corridor, where one woman ended up with a broken nose.

"Hurting people and vandalizing is not going to help. We have differing opinions and those need to be handled in a democratic way," Thanedar said.

He didn't immediately call police to report the vandalism, he said, because he was preparing to head to the airport to greet Vice President Kamala Harris, who traveled to Detroit on Monday to announce the Biden administration will provide $100 million for small and medium-size auto parts manufacturers to upgrade their facilities and train their workforce.

More:Kamala Harris promotes Biden administration's aid for small businesses in Detroit stop

Thanedar's photo on the side of the community center on Livernois had an X through his face with red paint, with what appear to be devil horns added to his head. "Racist" is scrawled through the name on the sign, and "Shri racist!" is written on the exterior of another side of the building, according to photos provided by the congressman.

The congressman's sign with his photo is on an exterior wall of the building that features a mural of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., with a quotation from King's April 1963 letter from a Birmingham, Ala. jail: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." 

Thanedar has long expressed support for Israel in its war against Hamas, and his reelection campaign has received funding from the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC. Thanedar has called for a "negotiated" cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war that includes the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Thanedar said he uses the building on Livernois for both community events and some political events and that he usually staffs it himself. It opened five or six months ago to the public, he said.

Thanedar is running for a second term in Congress and faces primary challenges from former state Sen. Adam Hollier of Detroit and Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters.

The congressman last week filed a challenge to try to get Hollier disqualified from the Democratic primary ballot in August.

More:Hollier congressional bid for ballot at risk over possible forged signatures

mburke@detroitnews.com