A little more than a week after Eugene residents Xia Wang and Ben Christensen s house was defaced with red paintballs in an alleged hate crime, numerous community members showed up Sunday to help create a mural to go up in the couple’s yard as a way to combat hate.
On Sunday, more than 30 people came out to Maurie Jacobs Park in Eugene as part of the “Community Art Against Hate” event where people took turns helping paint a mural on two boards to go up along the fence at Wang’s house.
Wang said reported the vandalism to the Lane County Sheriff s Office as a hate crime, though it is still under investigation. She’s confident the July 16 attack targeted her house because she’s Asian and the only person of color in her area of the Santa Clara neighborhood. She noted her house has been defaced four times in the past year, including once having someone paint over her “Black Lives Matter” sign with the word “All.”