A vandal sprayed a Davidson site with racist graffiti, slurs. Here’s what we know.
Police are investigating racist graffiti and slurs sprayed across a Davidson building during the town’s Juneteenth events — and are asking the public’s help with finding a vandal responsible for two “heinous acts.”
“The racial epithets are divisive, hurtful, and particularly impact the Black community raising a strong emotional response,” Davidson communications director Jessica Eggimann said in a news release Wednesday.
Robert Bansek reported the graffiti on his office in Gateway Commons’ commercial building early Saturday, June 17, according to a Davidson Police Department report.
Bansek, the owner of the targeted InSource Solutions office, has lived in Huntersville since 1998. After police arrived, he and his wife immediately scraped off the gold spray paint and hired professional cleaners to restore the windows.
Within a few days, the same word had reappeared — this time in red paint.
“It’s completely unexpected in Davidson,” he said. “And, frankly, I hate that we’re dealing with it in 2023.”
With people already heading into the office for a meeting, he resorted to sticking oversized Post-it Notes on the words and waited for the professional cleaners to come back.
The vandalism caused $15,000 in damages to digital consulting firm InSource Solutions’ windows, the police report indicated.
“Like the police, I believe it’s random,” Bansek said. “But it’s just horrible. It angers me, and it saddens me.”
He thought his office may have been targeted simply because of its location. The dimly lit area is covered by trees, he said.
“It was probably easy to get away with, it was probably an easy target — it’s just a gut feel,” he said.
Bansek sent an email to InSource Solutions, which has offices across the east coast, detailing the incident and reinforcing that this type of behavior — written, verbal or implied — is unacceptable at his office.
The graffiti does not reflect how Davidson — a town of about 15,000 sitting 20 miles north of Charlotte — embraces diversity, equality and inclusion, the town’s news release said.
“The police department is part of the community, and the officers understand the impact this language has on the residents of Davidson, but specifically the Black residents,” police chief Kim Davidson said.
Police are asking the public if anyone saw anything during the late evening or early morning hours of Saturday, June 17 or Monday, June 19 near Davidson Gateway Drive and Gateway Crossing Court. The lead investigator, Detective Corporal AJ Heitmann, may be contacted by dialing 911 or calling 704-892-5131.
This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 1:17 PM.
