Police are investigating a potential bias crime after Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch reportedly found a dead raccoon and a sign with “intimidating language” directed at him and another city councilor on the front door of his office Monday morning.

The Redmond Police Department said in a press release that the sign mentioned Fitch and Councilor Clifford Evelyn by name. Police provided a photo but intentionally blurred what the sign says “to maintain the integrity of the investigation,” said Heather Cassaro, a city spokeswoman.

Fitch declined Monday to elaborate on specifically what the sign said, but added: “I feel bad for Clifford. It seems there’s some people in town that can’t accept the fact that Clifford is Black and is on the City Council.”

Fitch told The Bulletin on Monday that he found the raccoon and the sign when he showed up for work at the Law Offices of Fitch and Neary at 210 SW Fifth St. at around 6:30 a.m. Monday. He said he then emailed City Manager Keith Witcosky and Redmond Police Chief Devin Lewis before heading to his 7 a.m. workout.

Fitch characterized the sign’s language as “racially hateful” and added that its author “doesn’t write very well, and didn’t have the courage to sign it.” He declined to say what it said about him. He acknowledged that his family is “a little concerned” and noted that he hasn’t seen anything like this happen during his tenure as mayor.

But Fitch said the incident will not distract the council from its business. He described the incident as “a blip on the radar at best.”

“I’m just not going to give in to cowards,” he said. “It’s sad to see that people would do something like this because it’s not reflective of our community and the people who live here,” he added.

Evelyn, who was elected to the council in 2021, said he would reserve comment until a later date. “I’m going to stand back for the investigation to take its course,” he said Monday.

“I have complete confidence in Devin and the Redmond Police Department that it will do a very thorough investigation,” he said.

Lewis, the police chief, said in a statement that the department has “no tolerance for hate speech of any kind, against any person or group. We will work swiftly to resolve this case and seek to hold those who did this to our community responsible.”

The department is investigating the incident as a potential second-degree bias crime, a press release said.

These crimes occur when a person “tampers or interferes with property … with the intent to cause substantial inconvenience to another person because of the person’s perception of the other person’s race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin,” the press release said.

The department is seeking the public’s help in finding anyone who may have placed the sign and dead raccoon on the office front door “sometime during the late evening of June 4, or early morning of June 5.”

“If you know who may be responsible or witnessed suspicious activity in the area, please notify the Police by calling the non-emergency number at 541-693-6911 and ask to speak with Detective Sergeant Jeremy Gautney. Reference RPD case #23-16282,” the press release said.

Fitch said he’s confident the department will investigate the incident thoroughly.

“We all know that our community is better than this, and we’ll move forward in that vein,” he said.