At approximately 5:30 a.m. Thursday, an Arab-American man discovered a racial slur spray painted on the garage door of his Ypsilanti home.
As he pulled out of the driveway of his home on Blue Jay Drive Thursday morning, the man found the words “sand (n-word)” written on the door of his garage. He painted over the words immediately.
The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office said they believe the suspect and victim knew each other prior to the vandalization. According to Police Services Lieutenant Mike Marocco, the victim owns a business and fired an employee before the vandalization occurred.
“We do not believe this is a random act,” Marocco said. “We currently do not have evidence that leads us to believe that the act was motivated by racial or ethnic animus. The investigation continues.”
LSA senior Ali Farhat, co-president of the Arab Student Association, said he thinks the vandalization is upsetting. He said he hopes the suspect is appropriately punished for his actions.
“It’s really sad that somebody has to stoop to that level to do that kind of thing, because not only does it offend us, also, the use of the n-word too offends African Americans or any Black community,” Farhat said. “It’s one thing to be mad about being fired, but another thing to totally offend an entire group of people. It’s definitely a condemned, really bad thing to do, and I hope there is some kind of justice.”