HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) – The Sheriff Keith McBrayer in Henry County, Georgia said he expected a rapid investigation into hate graffiti that targeted several neighborhoods, and now six people have been taken into custody.
WXIA-TV reports that vandals painted racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic messages on more than 20 properties over the weekend. Video appeared to show teenagers running through the area.
Graffiti that included racist and homophobic terms as well as anti-Semitic symbols were left on more than 20 victims’ property. Hampton residents met with community leaders on Monday about the vandalism.
“When I looked at my trunk, it had ‘KKK’ with a smiley face on it,” said Angel McWilliams.
Those victims met with Henry County leaders from the local chapter of the NAACP and Because We Care, an organization that helps drive economic growth and development in the county, on Monday.
“We don’t care who did it,” said Elton Alexander of Because We Care. “We don’t care what the face or the skin tone of the person who did this was, we want to stamp it out. Intolerance includes all.”
Video appeared to show teenagers running through the neighborhood.
On Tuesday, police said that four juvenile males and two adult men had been arrested and charged with up to 16 counts of criminal trespass. The juveniles were released to their parents, while 17-year-old Michael Brian Parks and 17-year-old Noah Gregory Bishop, pictured above, were booked in Henry County Jail.
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