'We Will Not be Silenced by Vitriolic or Hateful Actions, Period': Rainbow Times Publisher

SALEM, MA — City officials, police and community members are coming together in Salem in support of the Rainbow Times, an LGBT newspaper whose news box in Salem Square was destroyed by a group of seven vandals caught on camera Tuesday morning.

City officials joined members of the newspaper and the Salem community in resurrecting a new news box to stand where the old one originally stood. The response comes after a group of vandals set fire to unknown explosives placed inside the box, causing an explosion which could be heard as far as one mile away, according to police.

"We are showing a sign of strength," says Gricel Ocasio, a publisher at the Rainbow Times who spoke to Patch after the incident occurred. "We are sending a message saying 'We are not going anywhere, we will prevail and we will not be silenced by these vitriolic or hateful actions, period.'"

Salem Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime, Ocasio says. Authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for any information that helps investigators solve the case.

"I was enraged," Ocasio told Patch."I thought of who would do this and why? Why is it that we are being targeted for being who we are and for representing a marginalized community?"

While this was the first incident in which pyrotechnics were used on one of its news boxes, Rainbow Times co-founder and editor-in-chief Nicole Lashomb told Patch that the paper's boxes have been a target of vandalism 10 times. After the third instance of vandalism, Lashomb says, police began strategizing with the paper to help catch those responsible.

Regardless of the recurring incidents, Lashomb was shocked at the nature of the explosion.

"When I looked at the video, I was not expecting an explosion of that magnitude," Lashomb said."I gasped, cupped my mouth with my hand and was truly in shock."

Support and coverage of the explosion has poured in from across the country since news broke about it Wednesday afternoon. National outlets such as LGBTQNation, the Advocate and others have covered the issue.

The Rainbow Times was also pleased with how city officials reacted to the situation and are hopeful that those responsible are brought to justice.

"I also think its only a matter of time before they are caught," said Lashomb."So many people not only in law enforcement but in the entire community are outraged that they [those responsible] have put a tarnish on our city we love so much. Salem has become an LGBT mecca, and people are not happy [about the explosion]."