ICCI’s Facebook post on reframing a vandal’s message
Max Mowitz got an unexpected text message from his partner late on an early February afternoon. Mowitz’s green Prius, parked in his Des Moines driveway, had been vandalized -- the word “FRAUD” spray- painted in all black uppercase letters on his rear fender.
Mowitz is the first transgender executive director of One Iowa, the nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ equality. And this comes when both the Trump and Reynolds administrations, along with the GOP-dominated Congress and Iowa Legislature, are maligning, silencing and robbing gay and transgender people’s rights.
But if the spray painter’s intent was to emulate those politicians and cow Mowitz into submission, it backfired.
He learned he wasn’t the only target. There were three others in the early weeks of February -- two in Des Moines, the third in Norwalk. Whoever did it (police believe it was one person) hit up four different homes or workplaces linked to nonprofits that help empower underrepresented populations. He also learned from directors of similar agencies around the country that the claim of “fraud” is being levied against transgender people in other states, including Texas.
Max Mowitz
“We are not intimidated,” he said. “This is a time to embrace our communities and to express our solidarity, not divisiveness... We won’t be distracted from the work we’re trying to do.”
A different word was scrawled on each site: Two on exterior walls, one on a fence and Mowitz’s fender. The perp’s choice of words for his targets were head-scratchingly off the mark. Some actually meant the opposite of what they were apparently intended to.
“RACIST” was sprayed across an exterior wall of Alison Hoeman’s Norwalk residence. Hoeman founded and runs Des Moines Refugee Support, which helps immigrants and refugees settle in Iowa. Many are Afghans who were relocated here after helping the U.S. war in their homeland. Hoeman’s agency helps fill the gaps in services by transporting children to and from school, enrolling them in soccer club and delivering them food.
Hoeman suspects the vandalism was triggered by a TV report the previous week about her organization’s food delivery to 90 refugees. A Facebook post on that drew 450 responses – 90% of them negative, she said.
But calling her racist? “My first reaction was, ‘That’s a weird thing to write on my house,’ ” she said after a neighbor alerted her.
“FASCIST” was the word used at the residence of someone with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa – an odd choice because the ACLU promotes and defends free speech while fascists censor it. And for reasons we may never understand, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which does community organizing, got hit with “MAGA.” Wishful thinking, I guess.
This misuse of words may be the result of ongoing underfunding of Iowa’s public schools. But the underlying aggression shows how normalized divisive political rhetoric and policies have become in Donald Trump’s America.
The timing coincided with the approach of Iowa’s Funnel Week, featuring fear-mongering legislative bills taking aim at everything from public libraries to school vaccinations, not to mention foreign-born people. These lawmakers are so afraid of free speech, they want to add a day of school for any day students protest.
No arrests have been made, nor has any suspect been identified. Sgt. Paul Parizek, the Des Moines Police Department spokesman, said while it’s hard to identify a motive, “The timing, methods and the victims’ connections to advocacy groups certainly suggests that the incidents are connected.” He urges anyone with information to call the department at (515) 283-4864 or submit tips online through Crime Stoppers of Centra Iowa.
Norwalk Police Chief Greg Staples said his agency is pursuing every lead to find and charge whoever vandalized Hoeman’s home. Four Norwalk churches came together and issued a statement against hate in the community.
The targets are taking more security measures, like getting exterior cameras installed. But Mowitz says, “I’m not going to change what I’m doing because someone’s trying to intimidate me.” He has watched loved ones leave Iowa as it moves from a rich history of LGBTQ advocacy,” to being “the trend-setter for the red wave.”
But if the spray painter’s goal was to shame him into hiding, it did the opposite. He says the best response to the anti-gay, anti-DEI moves is more – not less -- visibility for gay and trans people. “I really believe in Iowa. I love Iowa,” Mowitz said. “None of this has made me feel more isolated, but more connected to other people who choose to stay in Iowa.”
If he could speak to the vandal, he’d ask, “What energy, what fear did you bring to vandalizing my car?”
If Hoeman had the chance, she would tell the person who spray-painted her property, “Hey, I’m sorry you’ve been duped by your own leaders into believing that immigrants and refugees are the problem: That’s a non-problem. Trans people: That’s a non-problem. Actually the people in power are the problem.”
And instead of painting over the graffiti, ICCI decided to “make a statement out of it,” says Matthew Covington, its strategic operations director. They painted “We love our neighbors” on the wall, featuring a red heart.
These creative, mutually supportive and even humorous responses from community leaders someone intended to hurt move this story from one about being wronged to one about courage, resilience, community -- and love.
Bravo!
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