Penn graduate connected to anti-Trump vandalism will not face charges

Duncan Lloyd, the 2006 College graduate who was connected to anti-Trump vandalism at a grocery store, did not face charges but will complete 40 hours of community service as required by his employer at the City Solicitor's Office. 

During the incident on Nov. 25, a security camera at the Fresh Market in Chestnut Hill captured Lloyd filming or taking photos of an accomplice as he spray-painted the words “F**k Trump” on the wall of the grocery store. On Dec. 12, First Deputy City Solicitor Craig Straw said Lloyd would remain at his job, but would have to complete 40 hours of community service. The Solicitor’s office did not respond to a request for further comment.

The Philadelphia Republican Party released a statement after the incident, criticizing the muted response by the Solicitor’s office in reprimanding Lloyd. 

“I think it’s pretty obvious that if the situation had been the reverse, if it had been ‘F**k Hillary’ vandalism committed by an active city employee, there would have been such an uproar that he would have been fired,” Philadelphia Republican Party spokesman Albert Eisenberg told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “What conservative people believe is that we don’t get fair treatment by the media, and we don’t get fair treatment by the cartel of Democrats running our city government.”

The Duncan Lloyd anti-Trump vandalism incident was one of a series of election-related incidents since the conclusion of the presidential election. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations investigated 38 hate crimes since election day until Jan. 10 when the report was published — more than are investigated in an average year. The majority of these have been perpetrated against groups that have been subjects of President-elect Trump’s rhetoric in the past. 

Eisenberg said that the Philadelphia GOP decries hate crimes and referenced a statement released by Chairman Joe DeFelice after significant public backlash to the group's lack of a statement in the aftermath of several hate crimes, including the racist GroupMe incident at Penn. Eisenberg did not attribute the rise in hate crimes to President-elect Donald Trump, although he acknowledged that there are “extreme fringes” in both political parties.

“Do I love all of [Trump’s] rhetoric? No. Do I think some of his supporters are racist? Yes, probably. I also believe there are some Hillary supporters that antagonize police officers, and conduct other inappropriate forms of political activity," Eisenberg said. "If the situation was reversed, I believe [Lloyd] would have been fired. I think that is the definition of a double standard, and people are going to get angrier and angrier until they are treated with the same standard.”