An interracial couple in Stamford, Connecticut is being fined $100 a day for not removing a racial slur that was spray-painted on their garage. According to the Stamford Advocate, Heather Lindsay, who is white, said she will not remove the N-word that was spray-painted on her garage door until authorities "do their job" and "not just cover it up and sweep it under the table as they have done in the past."
Lindsay, whose husband, Lexene Charles, is black, also told the Advocate that the couple's home has been vandalized in the past, and that at least three of their neighbors have shouted the N-word at her husband.
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Though authorities said that they have been investigating the incident, police have not been able to find witnesses or security footage of the act.
"I'd like to find out who did it, because this has to stop," Charles told ABC7 New York.
To make sure that happens, the couple is refusing to remove the graffiti, and have refused the police's offer to remove or cover it at no cost. However, as a result, the couple has received a blight citation for $100 a day.
The citation reads, "You are directed to remove, correct, or abate the above violations within seven (7) calendar days from the date of this notice. Any failure to remove, correct or abate the violations, shall result in the issuance of a citation in accordance with the ordinance with fines imposed of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per day for each day the Blighted Property remains in violation, which can be enforceable as a lien on your property, and which may also be converted into a Court Judgement, and may cause the removal or abatement of the violation at your expense."
According to the Advocate, the couple discovered the graffiti on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend.
“The neighbors were very upset when the incident occurred and truly felt for the couple,” Ted Jankowski, Stamford’s director of public safety, told the Advocate. “However, the residents who have condemned the racial incident are upset and are complaining about continuing to see the racial slur and how it is disturbing the peace in the quiet neighborhood.”
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On the other hand, Darnell Crosland, a legal counsel for the Connecticut NAACP, told the Advocate that removing the graffiti could make the home a target again.
"They were requested to take the sign down... and to just act normal, like nothing happened," he said.
“The incident that occurred is disgusting and it is something the Stamford Police Department continues to have under investigation,” Jankowski told the Advocate.