JokersUpdates.com: News Stand - 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.

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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.

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.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/20/little-village-buildings-swastikas-vandalism/