Republican office in Cedar Rapids vandalized

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Republican National Committee field office in Cedar Rapids was vandalized over the weekend.

RNC staff on Monday found a rock thrown through a window of their office in the 4100 block of Center Point Road NE.

The RNC, in a statement, referred to the incident as "political violence.“ Cedar Rapids Police, however, said they do not have any specific evidence to indicate the vandalism was politically motivated.

Police said it remains an open investigation, but have no video or traceable evidence from which to go on.

There was no note, message or graffiti suggesting a political motive, according to an RNC spokesman.

A statement from the RNC about the vandalism, though, referenced a "growing trend of violence and vandalism being inflicted on Republicans and conservatives across the country."

Last week, a Wisconsin restaurant that was set to host an event for a Republican congressional candidate was vandalized. The Wisconsin State Journal reported the graffiti sprayed on the restaurant and a neighboring business included phrases that expressed disapproval of the Republican congressional candidate, according to the restaurant and the police.

Earlier this year, the RNC’s Hispanic community center in Milwaukee was also vandalized. And anti-abortion pregnancy centers and churches — including a pregnancy care center in Des Moines — have been firebombed, attacked and vandalized as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on the future of legalized abortion in America.

A California man armed with a pistol, a knife and other weapons was also recently arrested by police near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house in Maryland on June 8. The man was charged with "attempt to kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder" the justice.

“Political violence of any sort has no place in a civil society,” RNC Spokesman Kush Desai said in an emailed statement. “Monday’s vandalism against an RNC field office in Cedar Rapids underscores the dangers of unchecked rhetoric against ideological dissent — and its threat to Iowa Nice.”

— Reporter Emily Andersen contributed to this report

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