State Rep. Jervonte Edmonds, a Democrat running for re-election in District 88, said he was hurt and shocked after someone defaced his campaign sign with a racial slur and an antisemitic symbol in Palm Beach County.
The sign sits at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Haverhill Road. The vandalism included profanity followed by a racial slur aimed at the Black community, along with the symbol.
“It was a shock. It was a blow. Even as a state representative, seeing that word, it hurts,” Edmonds said.
Edmonds said he was most troubled that a high school student was the first person to see the sign. He said his focus is on young people in the community and making sure they know the word does not describe them.
This is Edmonds’ third campaign for the House seat. He said signs have been damaged and stolen before, but nothing like this. He said he believes hate has become more accepted, and he wants the community to respond by standing against it.
“We’re a family here in Palm Beach County and wherever there’s hate, wherever there’s slander, we must, we have to stand together and root that hate out,” Edmonds said.
