CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - Police in Cedar Rapids are investigating the spray painting of a racial slur on the front of a vacant rental house as a hate crime.
Police received a call about the vandalism Tuesday morning, and officers discovered a message in yellow spray paint using the slur and delivering a message that Black residents aren’t wanted on the tree-lined street of neatly-appointed Dutch colonial and Cape Cod homes.
The vandalism elicited an angry reaction from Police Chief Wayne Jerman.
“I’m disgusted and furious that someone would do this,” Jerman told The Gazette. “We are handling this as a hate crime. We are talking to all the neighbors and exploring every lead at this point. We have investigators working the case.”
Local police are working with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office to see whether federal hate crime laws apply to the case.
The house has been a source of neighborhood complaints over the last year, with reports of everything from disturbances and car thefts to drive-by shootings at the home.
Police records show that from January 2020 through Oct. 15, there were 25 disturbance calls, 13 weapon calls, two thefts, one domestic incident, and seven suspicious persons reports in connection with the home.
Last year, the city declared the home a nuisance property.
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