PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Portland police are investigating racist graffiti found at a Masonic Lodge in north Portland.
John Bryant, the grandmaster at the MW St. Joseph Grand Lodge, discovered the graffiti when he arrived Thursday morning at the lodge near Fremont Street and Mississippi Avenue.
"They got swastikas, effigies of lynching, they have 'Die N Die,'" he said. "I don't understand why we were targeted. We're a nonprofit organization."
The Portland Police Bureau's bias crimes detectives have been notified. At this point, no suspect information is available.
Bryant said he takes the graffiti as a direct threat.
"I'm really hurt. There's only two black-owned (buildings) on this whole street; my mother's is one and this building is the other," he said. "For us to be targeted here makes me worry about my mother."
Bryant also said he has no immediate plans to paint over the graffiti.
"It's so devastating. I think people need to see it," he said. "I'm not going to paint over it today."
Anyone with information on who is responsible is asked to call the Portland Police Bureau.
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