Little Village buildings spray-painted with swastikas, pro-ICE statement
Chicago Tribune (archive.ph)
By Katherine Weaver
2025-07-21 14:52:05GMT
Owners Bibiana Mesa, right, and her husband, Juan Ocampo, paint over graffiti reading “ICE RULES” on July 20, 2025, after an overnight vandal tagged their grocery store, La Fruteria, for the second night in a row in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Swastikas were spray-painted on several buildings in Little Village over the weekend, and one building was tagged a second time with a pro-immigration enforcement statement, community members said.
According to a statement from the Chicago Police Department, three buildings in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road and one in the 2500 block were vandalized late Friday night, around midnight.
Community members said a grocery store and two community organizations were spray-painted with swastikas in the 2700 block of West Cermak.
Graffiti showing swastikas is still visible on July 20, 2025, on a mural reading "Free Palestine" after grocery store owners tried to paint over the vandalism in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Half of the front wall of La Frutería grocery store is 50 feet of uninterrupted cinder-block wall — a perfect canvas for the street artists whose murals occupy the space. Bibiana Mesa, one of the owners of La Frutería grocery store, said they decided to give the space to the community when they bought the business five years ago.
“It’s either we have them do something to relate a message, or we have it getting tagged by gangs in the area or whatnot,” she said. “It brings up a lot of colors, and it makes people feel good, our community is being represented.”
In the past, the wall has been home to a Chicago Bulls cartoon and a mural honoring the Hispanic community, Mesa said. Until Sunday, the wall featured a mural reading “FREE PALESTINE” with a child standing on a pile of burning rubble in front of a Palestinian flag.
The Mesas check their building for issues every morning when they arrive. On Saturday, as they pulled up in their car, they saw there were swastikas on the front of the building.
“And as we looked around, we noticed that other buildings around the area were vandalized as well,” Mesa said. They called the business across the street, Latinos Progresando, to let the organization know that there was a swastika painted on the glass of their front door as well.
Latinos Progresando is a nonprofit that provides community services for the Mexican community, including legal services and education on immigration matters. Nubia Willman, the organization’s chief programs officer, said their CEO contacted police to document the crime and then washed off the swastika as soon as they could Saturday morning.
“There is a purpose when you use a swastika. That is a specific symbol with an intent to create intimidation and fear,” Willman said. “Our immigrant community, our Mexican community, Latino community, has really been targeted lately. And so to come to a predominantly Mexican neighborhood and graffiti with a criminal or hate symbol, you can’t really do anything but assume an intent to create fear.”
The Mesas painted over the swastikas on their building Saturday, but the swastikas still showed through the paint. They decided the mural had to be painted over completely to remove all traces, and they planned to do so on Sunday. But when they came in Sunday morning, “ICE RULES” had been added to the front of the building, an apparent reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The full facade is now the same shade of pink as the rest of the building. Still, the Mesas are hoping that local artists will reach out to propose new mural ideas.
Graffiti reading "ICE RULES" remains after an overnight vandal tagged a grocery store on July 20, 2025, in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
“These people are trying to scare us, but you know, we’re here with strong community, and we will get through this,” Mesa said.
This follows a similar incident in Pilsen in June, in which a woman defaced a mural at 16th Street and Ashland Avenue and was accused of attacking another woman who tried to stop her. That mural depicted solidarity between a Mexican and a Palestinian man. Police said Sunday this case is still under investigation.
Latinos Progresando posted pictures on social media of the swastika painted on its front door.
“It is clear that the perpetrator, motivated by a federal government who has unleashed masked, heavily armed ICE agents into our neighborhood, believed that this cowardly act would further intimidate, frighten, and divide our community,” the statement read.
“Let’s be clear about one thing — Latinos Progresando will not back away from our values or be deterred from our work because of this heinous criminal act. We are not going anywhere.”
The third Little Village building tagged was the Chicago Liberation Center, a community center where social media posts show people have recently gathered to focus on actions against ICE and deportation. A window flying a Palestinian flag was painted with a swastika that has since been removed.
Police said no one is in custody and detectives are investigating.
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4 Little Village Buildings Vandalized With Swastikas, Pro-ICE Slogan In ‘Cowardly Act,’ Immigrant Group Says
Block Club Chicago (archive.ph)
By Charles Thrush
2025-07-21 00:26:06GMT
The door to immigrant legal service firm Latinos Progresando, 2724 W. Cermak Rd., vandalized with a swastika, July 20, 2025. Credit: Latinos Progresando
LITTLE VILLAGE – Four buildings in Little Village were vandalized with swastikas and one with a pro-immigration enforcement message early Saturday, police and community members said.
Three buildings in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road and one building in the 2500 block of South Central Park Avenue were vandalized with swastikas around midnight Saturday, police said. Detectives are investigating the incidents and no arrests have been made yet.
One of the vandalized buildings includes the offices of Latinos Progresando, 2724 W. Cermak Road, an organization that has long provided legal services to immigrants in the majority Mexican-American community, the organization said in a statement posted to Facebook.
A swastika, which the organization called a “universal symbol of hate,” had been spray-painted on the organization’s front door.
Some of the other buildings vandalized also provide services to the neighborhood’s immigrant community, the group said.
The group believed the act to have been directly motivated by recent actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, who have been recorded seizing migrants leaving their hearings inside the Downtown Immigration Court building, 55 E. Monroe St., and staging group arrests at a federal office in the South Loop.
“We were targeted along with at least four other entities that are based in and provide services for the Mexican community,” Latino Progresando said in the statement. “Our organizational mission is to elevate the well-being of the Mexican community, and build bridges with people of all backgrounds. It is clear that the perpetrator, motivated by a federal government who has unleashed masked, heavily armed ICE agents into our neighborhood, believed that this cowardly act would further intimidate, frighten, and divide our community.
“Let’s be clear about one thing — Latinos Progresando will not back away from our values or be deterred from our work because of this heinous criminal act. We are not going anywhere,” the statement read.
One of the buildings vandalized with a swastika was La Frutería grocery store on Cermak Road, which previously featured a large pro-Palestinian mural on the side of the building, according to the Tribune.
The front of the building had also been tagged with “ICE RULES,” workers told the Tribune. Later that morning, workers were seen painting over the entire mural to cover up the vandalism.
The family that manages the store hopes to put up another mural in place of the previous pro-Palestine piece, the newspaper reported.
The building vandalism comes after the vandalization of two murals in Pilsen depicting Mexican-Palestinian solidarity and resistance to anti-immigration policies. A Venezuelan restaurant in Back of the Yards was also recently defaced with an anti-Venezuelan message.
---
Previous thread about the mural defacement mentioned in the above story:
Advocates call for hate crime charges for woman who defaced Pilsen mural
Chicago Tribune (archive.ph)
By Katherine Weaver
2025-07-21 14:52:05GMT
Owners Bibiana Mesa, right, and her husband, Juan Ocampo, paint over graffiti reading “ICE RULES” on July 20, 2025, after an overnight vandal tagged their grocery store, La Fruteria, for the second night in a row in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Swastikas were spray-painted on several buildings in Little Village over the weekend, and one building was tagged a second time with a pro-immigration enforcement statement, community members said.
According to a statement from the Chicago Police Department, three buildings in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road and one in the 2500 block were vandalized late Friday night, around midnight.
Community members said a grocery store and two community organizations were spray-painted with swastikas in the 2700 block of West Cermak.
Graffiti showing swastikas is still visible on July 20, 2025, on a mural reading "Free Palestine" after grocery store owners tried to paint over the vandalism in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Half of the front wall of La Frutería grocery store is 50 feet of uninterrupted cinder-block wall — a perfect canvas for the street artists whose murals occupy the space. Bibiana Mesa, one of the owners of La Frutería grocery store, said they decided to give the space to the community when they bought the business five years ago.
“It’s either we have them do something to relate a message, or we have it getting tagged by gangs in the area or whatnot,” she said. “It brings up a lot of colors, and it makes people feel good, our community is being represented.”
In the past, the wall has been home to a Chicago Bulls cartoon and a mural honoring the Hispanic community, Mesa said. Until Sunday, the wall featured a mural reading “FREE PALESTINE” with a child standing on a pile of burning rubble in front of a Palestinian flag.
The Mesas check their building for issues every morning when they arrive. On Saturday, as they pulled up in their car, they saw there were swastikas on the front of the building.
“And as we looked around, we noticed that other buildings around the area were vandalized as well,” Mesa said. They called the business across the street, Latinos Progresando, to let the organization know that there was a swastika painted on the glass of their front door as well.
Latinos Progresando is a nonprofit that provides community services for the Mexican community, including legal services and education on immigration matters. Nubia Willman, the organization’s chief programs officer, said their CEO contacted police to document the crime and then washed off the swastika as soon as they could Saturday morning.
“There is a purpose when you use a swastika. That is a specific symbol with an intent to create intimidation and fear,” Willman said. “Our immigrant community, our Mexican community, Latino community, has really been targeted lately. And so to come to a predominantly Mexican neighborhood and graffiti with a criminal or hate symbol, you can’t really do anything but assume an intent to create fear.”
The Mesas painted over the swastikas on their building Saturday, but the swastikas still showed through the paint. They decided the mural had to be painted over completely to remove all traces, and they planned to do so on Sunday. But when they came in Sunday morning, “ICE RULES” had been added to the front of the building, an apparent reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The full facade is now the same shade of pink as the rest of the building. Still, the Mesas are hoping that local artists will reach out to propose new mural ideas.
Graffiti reading "ICE RULES" remains after an overnight vandal tagged a grocery store on July 20, 2025, in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
“These people are trying to scare us, but you know, we’re here with strong community, and we will get through this,” Mesa said.
This follows a similar incident in Pilsen in June, in which a woman defaced a mural at 16th Street and Ashland Avenue and was accused of attacking another woman who tried to stop her. That mural depicted solidarity between a Mexican and a Palestinian man. Police said Sunday this case is still under investigation.
Latinos Progresando posted pictures on social media of the swastika painted on its front door.
“It is clear that the perpetrator, motivated by a federal government who has unleashed masked, heavily armed ICE agents into our neighborhood, believed that this cowardly act would further intimidate, frighten, and divide our community,” the statement read.
“Let’s be clear about one thing — Latinos Progresando will not back away from our values or be deterred from our work because of this heinous criminal act. We are not going anywhere.”
The third Little Village building tagged was the Chicago Liberation Center, a community center where social media posts show people have recently gathered to focus on actions against ICE and deportation. A window flying a Palestinian flag was painted with a swastika that has since been removed.
Police said no one is in custody and detectives are investigating.
---
4 Little Village Buildings Vandalized With Swastikas, Pro-ICE Slogan In ‘Cowardly Act,’ Immigrant Group Says
Block Club Chicago (archive.ph)
By Charles Thrush
2025-07-21 00:26:06GMT
The door to immigrant legal service firm Latinos Progresando, 2724 W. Cermak Rd., vandalized with a swastika, July 20, 2025. Credit: Latinos Progresando
LITTLE VILLAGE – Four buildings in Little Village were vandalized with swastikas and one with a pro-immigration enforcement message early Saturday, police and community members said.
Three buildings in the 2700 block of West Cermak Road and one building in the 2500 block of South Central Park Avenue were vandalized with swastikas around midnight Saturday, police said. Detectives are investigating the incidents and no arrests have been made yet.
One of the vandalized buildings includes the offices of Latinos Progresando, 2724 W. Cermak Road, an organization that has long provided legal services to immigrants in the majority Mexican-American community, the organization said in a statement posted to Facebook.
A swastika, which the organization called a “universal symbol of hate,” had been spray-painted on the organization’s front door.
Some of the other buildings vandalized also provide services to the neighborhood’s immigrant community, the group said.
The group believed the act to have been directly motivated by recent actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, who have been recorded seizing migrants leaving their hearings inside the Downtown Immigration Court building, 55 E. Monroe St., and staging group arrests at a federal office in the South Loop.
“We were targeted along with at least four other entities that are based in and provide services for the Mexican community,” Latino Progresando said in the statement. “Our organizational mission is to elevate the well-being of the Mexican community, and build bridges with people of all backgrounds. It is clear that the perpetrator, motivated by a federal government who has unleashed masked, heavily armed ICE agents into our neighborhood, believed that this cowardly act would further intimidate, frighten, and divide our community.
“Let’s be clear about one thing — Latinos Progresando will not back away from our values or be deterred from our work because of this heinous criminal act. We are not going anywhere,” the statement read.
One of the buildings vandalized with a swastika was La Frutería grocery store on Cermak Road, which previously featured a large pro-Palestinian mural on the side of the building, according to the Tribune.
The front of the building had also been tagged with “ICE RULES,” workers told the Tribune. Later that morning, workers were seen painting over the entire mural to cover up the vandalism.
The family that manages the store hopes to put up another mural in place of the previous pro-Palestine piece, the newspaper reported.
The building vandalism comes after the vandalization of two murals in Pilsen depicting Mexican-Palestinian solidarity and resistance to anti-immigration policies. A Venezuelan restaurant in Back of the Yards was also recently defaced with an anti-Venezuelan message.
---
Previous thread about the mural defacement mentioned in the above story:
Advocates call for hate crime charges for woman who defaced Pilsen mural
