Police investigating graffiti against gay CA politician as hate crime

An openly gay Redwood City Council candidate, Jason Galisatus, is not being deterred by what appears to be homophobic hate speech he found spray painted on a fence in front of his apartment on Thursday, Oct. 11. Police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime. 

Galisatus, 25, says he arrived home at about 4:30 pm to find “#gay” tagged near his bedroom window and one of his campaign signs that was positioned on the fence above the graffiti was torn down.  

“It was unsettling, but I will not be intimidated and it won’t stop me from being outspoken on issues I care about,” Galisatus said. “This campaign is about representing all residents of Redwood City no matter their background. And on the City Council, I intend to be a leader who will stand up for all residents in our community, whether you just moved here or have lived here a long time and no matter what neighborhood or generation you belong to.” 

Redwood City Police Chief Dan Mulholland says he is conducting an investigation, but as of this writing, no suspects have been identified. 

“The police department takes these allegations very seriously and detectives conducting the investigation are treating the matter as a hate crime,” Mulholland said.

Mayor Ian Bain wrote in an email he is both surprised and saddened to hear about the graffiti. “Our community is better than this, and no matter how heated the campaign gets, our candidates deserve better than this,” he said. “Everyone who is running is a good person, and they should be treated with respect, not subjected to hurtful and personal attacks.”

If anyone has information about the case they are asked to contact Lt. John Gunderson at (650) 780-7692.