The person responsible for this is being sought for a reward of $5000. Clearly this was an attempt to stoke hate, or maybe start a civil war on an interstate. I am not surprised where it happened because it could happen anywhere. I am surprised how it happened, considering there would seem to be some kind of knowledge required to pull it off.
“HONK IF YOU HATE (N-Word),” the sign read on Saturday in Sumter, South Carolina
Police are on a search in South Carolina for the person who tampered with an electronic road sign, changing its text to display a racial slur. The text on the sign, set up in the city of Sumter, was altered to display an offensive command that included the n-word. Sumter has a population of roughly 43,000 with a racial divide of roughly 49% Black and 44% white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The racist language on the sign has been removed, police said.
Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark characterized the incident as an extremely disturbing “scar on the city and its residents that is in no way indicative of the community where we work and live.”
If you think you recognize this person please call.
From the Facebook post,
Anyone who recognizes this person or knows anything about this incident is asked to call the Sumter Police Department at 803-436-2700 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
An up to $5,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest.
To the citizens if the area’s credit, and to no one’s surprise, there seems to be no bait taken. The proper people were notified and the sign has been restored with no incident beyond the shock and disgust the good people of this area felt. Acts like this are despicable so if they do find this perpetrator, I don’t expect excuses to carry much in the way of weight.
I suppose some honked, but at least the violence this person was likely seeking never materialized.
Broad daylight sign tampering to stoke hate.
I’m gonna need a new 2022 bingo card.
-ROC
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