'We are being targeted' by racist messages, staff at California dental clinic say

Staff at San Jose, Calif.-based Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley believe the dental and health clinic is the target of racist messages, according to CBS affiliate KPIX-TV.

"We are identified as American Indian," said Gerardo Loera, director of development and communications at the practice. "I think it makes us an easy target for people who want to lash out against movements like Black Lives Matter which we are obviously very much in support of."

Mr. Loera said surveillance cameras show a person on July 14 crouching where staff later discovered the letters "WLM" near the building entrance. Mr. Loera believes it is an acronym for "white lives matter."

On June 23, Mr. Loera said staff found the words "white power forever" written in chalk at two building entrances.

"Absolutely we are being targeted," Mr. Loera said, adding that the dental staff had taken a knee and held signs in support of the Black Lives Movement right before the first vandalism.

Reports of racist attacks in the area have increased this year, Zahra Billoo, executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told KPIX-TV

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