Vandals target Sen. Susan Collins' Maine office for second time before election
Red paint and the words 'blood on her hands' appeared outside her Biddeford office, and her chief of staff calls it an attempt to intimidate.
Sen. Susan Collins' office in Biddeford, Maine, was vandalized late Monday night, the night before Election Day. Someone wrote "blood on her hands" outside the office and spread red paint on the sidewalk. According to the Daily Wire, police got a call around 11 p.m. and the paint was washed away by Tuesday morning.
This is the second time the office has been targeted since September, when "Trump whore" was spray-painted on its doors. Collins' chief of staff, Katie Brown, described the episode as part of a series and the latest effort to intimidate the senator and her staff. She said the tactics are "disturbing, but not effective."
Collins' campaign says Biddeford police are investigating. Collins has also said her home in Bangor was egged about a week before the September vandalism. Collins, a Republican, is seeking a sixth term on Tuesday against Democrat Troy Jackson, a former state senator.
Jackson condemned the September vandalism, telling Fox News Digital that Collins and her staff should be able to work without anyone defacing their office. The Daily Beast reports that polls show Jackson with a slight lead.
Three sides of the story
Liberal1 outlet
Vandalism set against threats and Collins' controversies
The Daily Beast leads with the vandalism itself: "blood on her hands" scrawled outside the Biddeford office beside a pool of red paint, the second such incident in two months. It quotes chief of staff Katie Brown calling the tactics "disturbing, but not effective," and Collins telling WVOM that eggs thrown at her Bangor home show how far politics has "degenerated." The outlet then sets the episode against a wider climate.
It says threats against officials are growing and reaching their private lives, and notes a New York Times investigation tying them to millions of dollars in extra security spending. Next it turns to Collins' recent controversies. In July, anti- protesters crowded her Biddeford office after a fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man in Maine by federal agents.
She voted for a roughly $70 billion ICE and package. A ProPublica report says the Trump administration scrapped a federal investigation into alleged bribery. It closes on the race, where polls show Democrat Troy Jackson with a slight lead.
- The Daily Beast: Senator Susan Collins’ Office Vandalized Ahead of Election Day
Center2 outlets
A second vandalism at Collins' office before voting
NewsNation reports that "blood on her hands" was painted outside Collins' Maine office, with her chief of staff calling it the second attempt to "intimidate the Senator and her staff." The Hill reports that a federal constituent service office of the Maine Republican was vandalized overnight, for the second time in two months, on the eve of the election and with her race tight. It cites photos obtained by NewsNation showing red paint used to write "blood on her hands."
Conservative3 outlets
Collins' staff targeted again, with Jackson's condemnation
Fox News opens with Collins' chief of staff telling it the Biddeford office was vandalized for a second time, with a bucket of red paint dumped and "BLOOD on her HANDS" written on the sidewalk. It quotes Katie Brown and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, who condemned the September vandalism, and notes the office is near the scene of the July ICE shooting. It adds that Biddeford police are investigating, according to the campaign.
The Daily Wire embeds a Fox reporter's post and a Maine Wire report, says the paint was washed away by Tuesday morning, and relays the Maine Wire reporter's account that Collins' staff members were shaken. It also recounts the egging of her Bangor home and the threats she received after announcing she would vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation, including a letter to her Bangor home that claimed to contain ricin but was later found to hold only starch.
Which side made the stronger case?
All sources: 6 articles from 6 outlets
Liberal (1)
- The Daily Beast: Senator Susan Collins’ Office Vandalized Ahead of Election Day
Center (2)
- NewsNation: 'Blood on her hands' painted outside Susan Collins' Maine office
- The Hill: Collins's Maine office vandalized on eve of election
Conservative (3)
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