Filner's name defaced on Ingraham St. bridge

On the morning of August 8, I opened an email that linked me to a photo of the Fisherman's Channel Bridge plaque.

The sender asked "if anyone knew the story of the scratched out Council Member."

The photo depicted former mayor Bob Filner's name etched off of the metal plaque on the northwest side of the bridge.

At about 3 pm that day, I drove to the Fisherman's Channel Bridge and parked off of Riviera Drive.

The two-foot wide metal plaque commemorated the building of the bridge in 1990. Of the eight city council members Filner's name was the only one ground off; Bruce Henderson's name which is about a quarter inch above Filner's, is partially scathed.

"You get a cordless Makita with a grinding wheel on it," said "John," who was parked at the Ski Beach Park on the south side of the bridge. "It takes nothing for a tool like that. I don't own one, but I am well versed in tools."

Miracle, a 24-year-old Army veteran was hanging out about 20 feet away from John.

"[The vandal] invested in that tool just to do that, like it was thought out," she said as she laid out her blanket underneath a tree, "maybe that person is a relative or a victim, for them to be that upset about the situation."

In 2013, Filner resigned as mayor of San Diego after numerous accusations of sexual misconduct; he then pled guilty to charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment.

"I had a similar situation in the military," Miracle said, "and maybe that person had a situation that was worse than mine, and they had ill feelings [towards Filner]."

I saw Cherry doing a speed walk towards the waterway that flows underneath the bridge.

"I don't think anybody should be defacing any property, period," Cherry said. "We have people running around creating negativity and we have enough to deal with without creating unnecessary drama and hatred."

I then tried talking to the lifeguard that was in a boat patrolling underneath the bridge; he ignored me.

"It's the same thing they are doing with President Donald Trump's star up there," John said, "I'm not defending or condemning that, but people that are offended are going to do that."

"We have the right to feel what we feel," Miracle said, "but it's not our right to condemn him by scratching off his name."