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Portland Graffiti Depicts LePage as Klansman

Barbara Cariddi
/
MPBN
Graffiti in Portland of Gov. Paul LePage as a Klansman.

A 6- to 7-foot image of Gov. Paul LePage dressed in Ku Klux Klan regalia has been spray painted on a wall along a Portland walking trail that has long been used as a place to legally post graffiti.

The wall is owned by the Portland Water District. Spokesperson Michelle Clement says, about a decade and a half ago at the request of the city, the district agreed to allow the wall to be used as a sanctioned canvas for graffiti.

She says the agency has not monitored what goes on the wall.

“The local graffiti artists’ community seems to do a pretty good job at keeping that a revolving sort of canvas, so it’s always changing,” she says.

Clement says the water district has been in contact with the city to discuss what, if anything, should be done about the image.

She says officials aren’t sure whether there were any rules or requirements set up 15 years ago when the graffiti wall was sanctioned.

In addition to the caricature of the governor, several derogatory comments have also been placed on the wall, as well as a call that LePage be forced from office.

Someone altered the mural Tuesday night to remove all KKK imagery and instead add Mickey Mouse ears to LePage's likeness.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.