NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - Police in North Andover have launched a hate crime investigation after a resident in the town recently received a hand-delivered homophobic death threat.
“It was hand-delivered and it had pasted on it some hate symbols, as well as a threat to kill members of the LGBTQ+ community using a very derogatory term,” North Andover Police Detective Lt. E.J. Folds said.
The death threat read, “A card from your dear friend.” It also included swastikas and a homophobic slur.
Folds added that the hateful message was delivered to a home that had a pride flag hanging outside.
“They left it on the victim’s doormat, which is an interior,” Folds said. “It makes it even more abrasive.”
News of the threat has startled the local LGBTQ+ community.
“When you target one of us, you target all of us,” said Jenn Fresen, co-founder of the North Andover Pride Project. “It is incredibly disturbing…Not just for the person who received it but for neighbors and for others in the neighborhood who are Jewish and who are LGBTQ.”
Fresen posted photos of the threat on Facebook in an effort to raise awareness.
“Having a conversation is important. Getting to the bottom of where these ideas and feelings are coming from, and then providing more opportunity for education to understand the context of these symbols of hate,” Fresen added.
Investigators are reviewing surveillance video in an effort to identify a suspect.
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