Vandals Target Stockton School Board Candidate's Sidewalk
STOCKTON (CBS13) - A candidate for the Stockton Unified School Board is fighting back against hateful words spray-painted on the sidewalk in front of his home and a notary sign for his business.
Doug Vigil woke up Sunday morning to the words "Quit" and "No Special Ed on Board."
"That day that I found that (the graffiti) I was going to quit," said Vigil.
But just like giving up on himself wasn't an option, he says neither is the fight for equality.
"I'm trying to advocate to parents that their kids are not broken. They can do whatever they want to do and be what they want to be," he said.
That's exactly what Vigil has done. He was born without ears, but has been able to overcome life's challenges and decided to run on the school board to help students like himself.
"Things like that negativity can turn into a positive and hopefully it will educate and that hatred will not be tolerated in Stockton," Vigil said.
With support from friends and the community, the hateful words were scrubbed away.
"I'm proud of you and to me this should give you the strength to keep going, prove how good you are," said a friend and supporter Traci Gregg.
Vigil said he's had retaliation from another school board member and even the Mayor agreed this was no accident.
"For some young thug to know that he's running for school board and to know that he happens to have a hearing disability, that's not a coincidence," said Mayor Silva.
Now police are looking into the graffiti as a possible hate crime.
"We're encouraging people in that neighborhood to do the right thing and if they saw something, they need to contact the police department immediately because we are taking this case very seriously," said Officer Joe Silva with the Stockton Police Department.
Anyone with information are asked to contact police or Crimestoppers.
