Minneapolis Drain Cleaner Responds to Post-Election Vandalism

Ben Smith offered his services free of charge when he came across a couple homes tagged with derogatory graffiti.
Minneapolis Drain Cleaner Responds to Post-Election Vandalism
A homeowner shows the outcome of the cleaning capabilities of the power washer Ben Smith used to remove graffiti from the homeowner's garage.

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There was plenty of heat coming from either side of the political debate during the leadup to the presidential election and that hasn’t let up since last week Tuesday when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

As part of that post-election fallout was a small vandalism spree by Trump protesters in northeast Minneapolis. At least two random homes were tagged with the message: F— Trump. According to a report by GoMN.com, one local drain cleaner took it upon himself to help the vandalism victims.

Ben Smith, owner of Marvel Sewer and Drain, found out about the vandalism after a resident posted a photo of a vandalized garage to Reddit last week Thursday. Smith said he happened to be in the neighborhood at the time he saw the post and had his power washer with him. He messaged the Reddit user who posted the photo to get the exact address.

“I just drove over there, got in the alley and knocked on the first guy’s door and … I asked him if I could just wash it off quick,” Smith told GoMN.com.

Another garage across the alley had been vandalized as well, so Smith checked with that homeowner and took care of it too.

Smith posted photos of his cleaning efforts on Facebook afterward, and offered his services free of charge to any other Twin Cities vandalism victims.

“Social media to the rescue, someone posted this on reddit. They found it in their Northeast alley,” he wrote on Facebook. “I was just down the road with time to burn and my jetter hooked up! Doesn’t matter who you support … Don’t destroy! If you know someone that was vandalized with political garbage let me know. Will donate my time to have a happy cleaner world!”



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