Family in North Andover receives homophobic death threat in note covered with swastikas
By Rhondella Richardson
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NORTH ANDOVER, Massachusetts (WCVB) — The LGBTQ community is rallying around a North Andover family that received a homophobic death threat.
Heather Rochette, who has two daughters aged 8 and 11, says she’s had a Pride flag displayed outside her Kingston Street home for about a month and at around noon Monday, she noticed a note folded on the doormat inside a shared foyer at the Village Green Condominiums.
On the outside, the paper read: “A card from your dear friend.” But on the inside, the note was decorated with swastikas with the following message: “Kill the [anti-gay slur].”
“It was shocking because I have two small children, and it looked like it was directed at them,” Rochette said Wednesday. “It seems very childish, but at the same time, you look at this thing and someone took the time to type these words out on their computer, print them out, cut them out, tape them on. It was an effort, and I kind of don’t feel like a kid would make that kind of effort.”
Rochette said she immediately called the police after reading the note.
“We will be brave and we’ll stand up to the stuff, and we won’t tolerate it. We’ll bring it to light,” Rochette said. “Hopefully, this will spark something positive and not the fear and hatred the message was intended to spark.”
The North Andover Pride Project, a nonprofit organization, shared photos of the hateful note on its Facebook page.
According to the group, this is the second incident involving Nazi symbols in North Andover in less than a month, and the second reported incident of anti-LGBTQ harassment in as much time.
“We are angry, saddened and frustrated. Everyone who lives in or visits North Andover deserves to feel safe and welcome,” reads North Andover Pride Project’s Facebook post. “We stand in solidarity with our Jewish neighbors, our LGBTQ+ neighbors, our Black and Brown neighbors, our neighbors with disabilities, our immigrant neighbors and all who these historic symbols of hate are designed to terrorize. This town is our home. We all belong here.”
North Andover police said they are investigating the incident as a felony hate crime, and investigators believe they are closing in on a person of interest in the case.
Anyone who has more information about who may have left the note is asked to call the North Andover Police Department at 978-683-3168 or email police at CrimeWatch@NAPD.US.
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