Vandals Dump Red Paint at Collins' Maine Office Night Before Election

Vandals dumped a bucket of red paint in front of Sen. Susan Collins' Biddeford, Maine, office Monday night and wrote "BLOOD on her HANDS" in crimson on the sidewalk, Fox News reported Tuesday.

Collins' chief of staff, Katie Brown, called it "another incident in a series" and "the second attempt at our Biddeford office to intimidate the Senator and her staff." She said the tactics are "disturbing, but not effective," and that staff remain on the job. Biddeford police are investigating, according to Collins' campaign.

The office is near the scene of a July ICE officer-involved shooting that killed 26-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Guerrero. Days after that shooting, protesters entered the office's front door chanting "vote her out." In September, the office door was spray-painted in red with a vulgar slur aimed at President Trump.

Democratic former state Sen. Troy Jackson, Collins' challenger, condemned the vandalism. "There's no place for this in Maine," he said, adding that he condemns whoever did it, as he did the September incident. Collins' and Jackson's campaigns did not immediately respond to further requests for comment.

Political intimidation aimed at a sitting senator's staff on the eve of an election is not protest. Credit to Jackson for saying so plainly; the same standard should apply to every office and every party, every time.