NEWS- Vandalized: Goode's C'ville office hit

At first glance, the window on 1st Street seems normal enough: "Virgil H. Goode, Jr., Fifth District, Virginia." Underneath, carefully stenciled in gold paint, as if to meet the approval of the Board of Architectural Review: "BIGOT."

Goode garnered national attention before Christmas with his comments on freshman Minnesota congressman-elect Keith Ellison's plan to be sworn into office using the Muslim holy book, the Koran. 

In a December 5 email, Goode warned that Americans should "wake up" or else there would "likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."

Ellison is an African-American and a Muslim.

Goode, who will take his oath of office on the Bible, told constituents, "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

 In the subsequent national outcry, Goode, a Republican who was just reelected to his fifth term in the House, remained unrepentant for the furor his remarks caused and has refused to apologize.

The Fifth District stretches from rural, economically struggling Southside to Democrat-leaning Charlottesville. 

The addition to the window of Goode's Charlottesville office has been around since at least December 29. Goode's staff was not aware of the vandalization January 2 when a reporter called– although it appeared someone had made an attempt to remove the word using fingernails or a coin.

Goode "is not aware of any other such incidents at any of his offices," says Goode press secretary Linwood Duncan. The congressman declined to comment on the painting of "bigot" on his office window. 

Could it have been a reaction to his email? "I would have no comment on that," says Duncan.

PHOTO BY HOOK STAFF

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