A burning cross is left in the driveway of a migrant workers’ camp outside Bellingham.

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On September 21, 1994, a man in a Latinx migrant workers’ camp near Lynden saw a cross burning — a symbol of the KKK — in the driveway of the camp and called to the police. Workers said that one and possibly two other crosses had been burnt at other locations that night, but those were not reported to the authorities.

The police handled the situation badly, neglecting to remove the cross for several days and bringing in border patrol staff to interpret for their investigation, which intimidated the workers. The FBI took over the case. A candlelight march and prayer vigil held a few days later was disrupted by someone yelling racist slurs.

A couple weeks later there was a drive-by shooting at the same camp. No one was injured, but there was property damage.

The Whatcom Human Rights Task Force is subsequently formed, soon after this incident.

To see a collection of newspaper articles on this event and its aftermath, click on the Paul deArmond thread in this google groups post.