ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Neighbors in a St. Johns County community are outraged after a resident painted a symbol on his house that several neighbors said looks like a “swastika.”
News4JAX visited the home on Wednesday and saw what appeared to be a swastika, but we chose to blur the image. Neighbors said the symbol appeared a few days earlier and that they were angry and upset.
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“Millions of people died because of that a long time ago, and just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” neighbor Henry Hart said.
Hart said he normally supports free speech, but that doesn’t include the public display of a swastika.
“I’m a free speech kind of guy and people can put flags out there and represent their points of view but what you do also represents your values and I think a swastika is one of those symbols,” Hart said.
Residents said David Hoag, the homeowner, has been difficult for years. County records show two complaints against Hoag — noise ordinance violations in 2010 and 2014 — but no other enforcement actions related to the painted image.
Hoag denied the symbol was a swastika when News4JAX asked.
“That is a symbol that the indigenous people of this country used for eons before the Nazi’s indoctrinated it,” Hoag said.
When told that most in Western society generally view the symbol as a swastika, he said, “That’s their stupidity and their ignorance.”
Hoag says he plans to remove the image, saying the garage door bearing the symbol was coming down.
He also said he couldn’t say why he painted the image above the garage.
If he does remove the image, it could bring some relief to neighbors.
News4JAX contacted the St. Johns County Code Enforcement Division to ask whether the county could take action.
“St. Johns County has not received a complaint as of today,” the county said in a statement on Wednesday. “Currently, it is a private property matter.”