Recognise This Guy? Police Release Photos After Homophobic Graffiti Hits Inner West
Sydney’s Inner West woke up Tuesday morning to a spate of ugly homophobic and neo-Nazi graffiti targeting Newtown, Enmore, and Erskineville. Political posters were defaced, but the attack also hit close to home for the community, with the iconic Imperial Hotel in Erskineville tagged with a swastika. Yes, that Imperial – the one just recently heritage-listed, the one in the opening scenes of Priscilla – Queen Of The Desert.
NSW Police are investigating around 30 separate incidents, mostly on political signs but also including the slur against the Imperial and tags on other Newtown structures. They believe the vandalism happened in the early hours of Tuesday, somewhere between 1:30 am and 2:00 am.
Police have now released photos of a man they want to speak to, seen near Erskineville Road around 1:50 am that morning. They describe him as Caucasian, early to mid-20s, roughly 180cm tall with a medium build and mid-length brown hair. At the time, he was wearing a black hoodie, black shorts, and black thongs.
If you have any information, CCTV, or phone footage that might help, police are urging you to contact Newtown Police Station or Crime Stoppers. They’ve stressed that hate crimes are taken seriously and encourage reporting. Let’s hope they find who’s responsible for spreading this filth.
