OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A photographer’s home was tagged and his car’s tires were slashed as vandals in Olympia targeted the city’s newspaper overnight Wednesday.
The Olympian reports that vandals found where photographer Tony Overman lives in nearby Tumwater to intimidate him. The newspaper also reports that the perpetrators left a message with black paint on its building that said: “Overman snitch.”
Acid or a corrosive liquid was also dumped on the newspaper’s windows.
Overman, a 48-year-old award-winning photographer, has been attacked before. In 2010, as he photographed an “anti-police brutality” march in the city, a female participant spray painted his face and camera lens as he attempted to take a photo of the rally.
Overman thinks he was targeted because police have used pictures published in the Olympian to press charges on protesters. He says the Olympian has refused many police requests from law enforcement agencies for his unpublished photos.