Racist language covers a historic bridge in Cumberland Township.
A cyclist riding over the John Eisenhower Bridge on Water Works Road in Cumberland Township recently found several racist words and a Nazi symbol painted on the structure, Patrolman Ryan Eiker wrote in a press release. The graffiti was reported Tuesday, Eiker reported, and discovered last week.
The graffiti is being treated as criminal mischief and a hate crime, Eiker reported. Anyone with information should contact Adams County Dispatch at 717-334-8101.
The FBI defines a hate/bias crime as a committed criminal offense that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity. Hate crimes can carry extra penalties for perpetrators.
Cumberland Township will work with Adams County officials to remove the graffiti, Eiker wrote, and with Pennsylvania State Police Heritage Affairs to investigate the crime.
The county-owned bridge was constructed in 1886 and severely damaged more than a century later during the flood of 1996.
The township and Adams County partnered with the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee and family of Tim Shields to restore the bridge in 2012. It has been a pedestrian bridge since its restoration.
Photo credits: Alex Hayes (bridge sign); Steve Niebler (graffiti).
Alex J. Hayes has spent almost two decades in the Adams County news business. He is passionate about sharing stories focused on the people in our communities and following local governments in an age when few journalists report on their meetings. Alex is also a freelance writer for several other publications in South Central Pennsylvania. Alex encourages readers to contact him at ahayes83@gmail.com.