Housing Executive staff threatened in sinister message daubed on own offices: Police probing 'hate incident' as several buildings targeted
Northern Ireland Housing Executive staff have been threatened in a sinister message daubed on the body’s own offices in what police are probing as a hate incident.
Graffiti bearing the message “all NIHE staff are targets” and a graphic of a gun sight were sprayed on the wall of the organisation’s Newtownabbey offices, while a poster reading “take notice, anyone facilitating the settlement of Muslims or illegals in our areas will be held responsible” was fixed to the wall..
The poster, which doesn’t give any clue who might be behind either it or the graffiti, adds: “We will be watching.”
Similar messages were sprayed on several other Newtownabbey buildings, with the Housing Executive condemning the threats as “completely unacceptable”.
Police said posters had been plastered on a number of lampposts in the Co Antrim town, while graffiti “appeared on a number of buildings in the area”.
A PSNI spokeswoman said the incidents happened on Sunday, adding: “Enquiries are ongoing into each of these reports to establish if a crime has occurred.
“In line with our incident reporting policy, these reports are initially being treated as hate incidents whilst our enquires continue.”
She added that officers are currently “liaising with” bodies that own or manage the properties on which the material is displayed.
The Housing Executive said the safety and wellbeing of its staff is an “absolute priority”, a spokesperson stating: “We strongly condemn the threatening graffiti directed at our staff and painted on our office and in the surrounding neighbourhood.
“Any threat against our teams and our contractors is completely unacceptable and no one should be subjected to intimidation while carrying out their public service duties.
“We would appeal to everyone to respect the role our teams and our contractors carry out in supporting local communities and to allow them to do their work free from threat, intimidation or fear.”
The PSNI has appealed for anyone who may have information on those responsible for the incidents to contact police on non-emergency telephone number 101, quoting reference number 838 31/05/26.
Alternatively, reports can be made online at https://www.psni.police.uk/report or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.