Racial Slur Spray Painted At Burned Out Home Of Black Indiana City Council Member
The FBI is investigating a possible hate crime committed against Connersville, Ind., City Councilman Tommy Lee Williams Jr., after a racial slur was found spray painted in black letters on the back porch of his home after it was apparently set on fire, officials say.
Williams, along with his wife and children were visiting his son in Germany when his home was burned on October 29. But now he says he can’t imagine what anyone would do such a thing to him and his family.
"The first thing that went through my mind was, 'Did I upset anyone?' and 'Why would they do this?'" Williams told WTHR. "I felt vandalized that someone would do that to my wife and three boys. It's kind of sad that someone would do this."
"This one is particularly shocking," Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the news station. "Obviously, because of the murders of the animals involved, and the fact that the person explicitly painted the N-word on the councilman's house, leaving no doubt about why this happened. It's an utter act of cowardice, but sadly, not shocking in this day and age."
Mitchell says racism is still well and alive in America.
"Racism is not only the original sin of this country, but it's one of the oldest sins that exists, this belief that some people are better than others because of how they look,” he stated. “That's a hard ideology to get rid of, especially in our country.”
"It's important for the local community to not become afraid, to not become victimized,” Mitchell added. “Rather, it's important to come together in times like this to show solidarity with each other. To let one another know that hate cannot win in this environment. Again, education — the best vaccine against discrimination.”
Williams was elected to the Connersville City Council in July 2020 and believes that might have something to do with the fire.
"Pray for that individual that he or she or them seek help for being able to try and hurt someone like that and kill animals and stuff. They have a really big problem," he said.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the Williams family recover.
In the meantime, the Williams family says they plan to rebuild and are staying with family.
