Chris Henderson over at upstart blog Just A Couple Questions posted a question for me and some other local news outlets yesterday: Why did media reports about the homophobic graffiti written on a D.C. police officer’s locker overlook a second victim in the case—the “female police sergeant” referenced in the graffitti?

Read More “Homophobic Police Graffiti Also Anti-Woman?” »

The locker of openly gay D.C. police officer Matt Mahl was vandalized earlier this month, Lou Chibbaro Jr. reports for the Washington Blade. On Oct. 26, the Third District officer returned to his storage locker to find it covered in homophobic epithets. Writes Chibbaro:

When contacted, Mahl released a brief statement confirming that the incident occurred but declined to provide additional details.

“I’m a police officer assigned to the Third District substation,” he said. “I was the target of a hate bias incident. It was reported to MPD and they are conducting an investigation to the best that they know how.”

Police sources familiar with the incident said the graffiti referred to Mahl as a “fag” and made lewd references to sexual acts by Mahl and a female police sergeant who is also assigned to the Third District substation.

Spokesperson Traci Hughes said Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the act “cowardly,” “disrespectful,” and “reprehensible.”