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Dixie Pride Store Vandalized Again, Owner Reacts With Strong Statements Concerning Punishment and Justice

By Greg Hince

Photo courtesy of Bradford Harmon

June 15, 2012. Harmon’s Dixie Pride was vandalized Wednesday for the second time in less than a week, and owner Bradford Harmon once again had some very strong opinions about the incident, which he admitted could be controversial. 

Early in the morning someone spray painted the sidewall of the building with the word “yourself” overtop of the previous “Obama 2012” tag. Harmon believes it was referencing the obscene tag made on the front of the building last Saturday.

“I only slept two hours that night, so that lets you know what I was doing,” Harmon said. “I was stalking the grounds and at the least he could have got maced, but there’s a lot of other things I could do.”

Harmon then proceeded to list some of the larger guns and ammunition the store carries.

Despite initially saying that he had no more to add to his previous comments, Harmon riled against the vandals for a considerable amount of time.

“If you want my opinion, he should have a bulls-eye drawn on his nuts and hung up in the town square where students can shoot him with B.B. guns; you can tar and feather him or burn him at the stake,” Harmon said.

Harmon said that many students had expressed outrage, and the vandals should know that “it is not cute and it will cost you big time.”

After some people reacted negatively to some of Harmon’s previous comments, he was adamant that a lack of knowledge of history is to blame for many people’s “ignorance.”

“Some lady wanted to have an argument with me about my comments on the Nazis, but I talked to a person who was there, I know what I’m talking about,” Harmon said. “I wouldn’t speak if I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

He then produced a Deutches Junhvolk book. Deutches Junhvolk was a subdivision of the Hitler Youth and reinforced the National Socialist view of Aryan ideals and transmitted the Nazi idea of the Volksgemeinschaft (national or people’s community).

“We all have opinions, but I have seen history and interpreted it through my own eyes,” Harmon said. “A lot of these people don’t know enough to talk about things.”

Harmon said he was taught personally by Appalachian State professors from the 50-70s, and enjoys sharing his insight with students at the store on a regular basis. He is adamant in his belief that a student who opposes his politics committed the vandalism, though there are currently no suspects.

“I have a passion for WWI, WWII and Vietnam, and war heroes and death camps, because I think we should never forget,” Harmon said. “And if we don’t teach those atrocities of history to students, they will repeat them, like this vandalism, that was my point.”

Harmon said that the vandalism is just as important to address as any assault or injustice.

“I have lived through a lot of things, I’ve seen the death of MLK and JFK and everything else, and it ain’t a pretty sight,” he said. “I just want kids to remember, you shape the future, so choose wisely.”

Police are seeking information on the vandalism June 13.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Crimestoppers at (828) 268-6959. All information is kept confidential, and Crimestoppers pays rewards for information that leads to arrests.

To read the previous story on the Harmon’s Dixie Pride vandalism: https://www.hcpress.com/news/confederate-pride-store-on-king-st-vandalized-owner-believes-he-was-targeted-with-a-hate-crime.html