Vandals break window at NAACP’s Baltimore headquarters, organization says. ‘This attack is an escalation.’

A group of four unknown people shattered a window of a Baltimore office of the NAACP on Tuesday, the organization announced Thursday.

The branch’s president, the Rev. Kobi Little, was sitting in his office in Charles Village when a bottle was thrown at a glass tile window, he said. Someone then threw a piece of concrete at the headquarters’ front door, busting its window.

“I was seated right there in the front room at our video desk. We had just finished our virtual meeting, and I heard a loud pop. I was unsure what it was, so I called a colleague who was en route,” Little said at a news conference outside the offices Thursday. “Once that colleague arrived and said the front was clear, I was able to make my way to see what happened.”

Little said the organization has received threats in the mail and online and had meetings interrupted, but this destruction of property crossed a new line.

“We have not had significant damage to property like this. If we hadn’t been here and the window was exposed, somebody could have made their way into the building. If somebody had been at the door, they could have been hit by this projectile, and that would have been harmful,” Little said. “This attack is an escalation.”

No one was injured, and a video of the incident shows that the attack was deliberate and targeted, the NAACP said in a news release. During the news conference, Little held up the piece of concrete, roughly the size of his fist.

He said police responded quickly, surveyed the damage and took a statement. The organization has security cameras that are not high-definition. They captured the incident but not specifics about the assailants.

Little said the suspects can be seen coming down the street, looking for a projectile, crossing the street to get one, then returning to assault the building. A security fence was kicked in, Little said.

“It possibly is a hate crime. I don’t think we’re going to prosecute anybody or arrest anybody for it, but it’s a reminder that we have to be vigilant, and we have to teach not only tolerance but love,” he said.

Little said the organization has recently been working on establishing a police accountability board, further accountability from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and a new policy requiring an equity and diversity assessment for any city contract of at least $1 million.

“At this time we don’t know if this is retaliation for our advocacy, or an attempt at sabotage to disrupt our work, or an act of hate, or if this is meant to intimidate or bully the NAACP or if this is simply an act of youthful mischief,” the organization said in the news release. “What we do know and what we want to make clear is that the NAACP will not be deterred in our advocacy.”