PORT HUENEME : Civil Rights Review Planned in Sign Case

The U.S. Department of Justice will review a recent incident in which a campaign sign in a black Port Hueneme family’s yard was defaced with the initials of the Ku Klux Klan, officials said Monday.

Gary Auer, supervising agent of the FBI office in Ventura, said he will file a report about the incident this week to see if any civil rights statute has been violated.

“The Department of Justice has a very aggressive stance involving possible civil rights violations,” Auer said.

The letters KKK were scrawled on a political sign for newly elected councilwoman Toni Young in the front yard of Ulysses Farley, 56, of Port Hueneme. Farley said his family has lived in the racially mixed neighborhood for 20 years, and had never had any problems with residents.

Police say they are still investigating, but believe that no crime has occurred because the campaign sign is not considered to have any value. “It would have been in the trash the next day anyway,” said Port Hueneme Police Lt. John Hopkins.

“We don’t have a crime, in my opinion,” Hopkins said. Even if investigators discovered who the culprit was, charges probably could not be brought against the suspect because no threats were made, and no damage to property occurred, he said.

The Department of Justice will review the case to see if there is any federal jurisdiction, and if any federal law has been violated, said Amy Casner, a spokeswoman.

The agency has up to five years to make a decision on whether to follow up on the incident, Casner said.