Philadelphia-Area Man Charged After Alleged Racist, Pro-Trump Vandalism
Philadelphia police have arrested a South Jersey man for allegedly spray-painting racist, pro-Trump messages on several cars on the morning after the November 8 presidential election.
The suspect, who was arrested about two weeks later, allegedly is the ex-boyfriend of one of the property-damage victims, the Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News reported, and the victim and her daughter identified the suspect when detectives showed them some surveillance footage. The suspect himself is also African-American, Breitbart News added.
The Inquirer/Daily News provides more background on what allegedly occurred in the early morning hours of November 9.
“On that morning, residents on the block awoke to find racist and pro-Trump graffiti spray painted on their storefronts, cars and homes. One of the damaged cars was a white SUV that had ‘Trump Rules’ and ‘Black B***h’ spray-painted across it in large black letters. The 62-year-old owner of the car, who is a black woman, has said she reported the vandalism to police. Police said that surveillance video captured a man spray painting a hood of a parked vehicle on the block about 5 a.m. that day. Several other vehicles and homes were also vandalized by the suspect, who then fled in an unknown direction, police said.”
An anonymous tip contributed to the November 22 arrest of the suspect, identified by NJ and other media outlets as William Tucker, 58.
JUST IN: William Tucker of Lawnside, NJ charged with racist & anti-Semitic graffiti left after election on South 6th St. #SouthPhilly pic.twitter.com/fAW1st8iDx
— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) December 1, 2016
The suspect faces four counts of criminal mischief and is due back in court on December 8 for a preliminary hearing.
Emotions continue to run high since Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in an Electoral College landslide, an event that came as a complete surprise to the poll-driven mainstream news media, and by extension, many U.S. residents as well as people around the world. Although several media accounts suggest an increase in hate crimes since the presidential election, apparently some of them appear to be hoaxes, according to The Daily Caller.
For example, a Chicago college student allegedly faked an incident in which she claimed to have received anti-gay, pro-Trump notes and emails, according to the educational institution’s president, who also indicated that the student is no longer enrolled there, the Inquisitr reported.
Separately, a Boston-area man reportedly admitted to lodging a fake hate crime complaint about being accosted by two alleged Trump supporters. “The men used a racial slur, made a reference to lynching and warned him this is Donald ‘Trump country now,’ according to the report he gave police,” the Boston Herald detailed. Malden, Massachusetts, police subsequently determined that the story was a complete fabrication.
As the Inquisitr also previously outlined, a University of Louisiana-Lafayette student acknowledged that she made up a story about being assaulted, robbed, and having her hijab torn off by two men, one of whom was wearing a Trump hat. The Lafayette Police Department later announced that it was no longer investigating after the alleged victim admitted to the fabrication. According to CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV, authorities plan to charge the woman, age 18, with filing a false report.
Here Are All The Hate Crime Hoaxes That Have Plagued The Country Since Trump’s Election https://t.co/dOjeonuDjX pic.twitter.com/B2zJ25BVU3
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 1, 2016
Also in the Inquisitr, a Seattle-area woman made up a claim about being sexually assaulted that she posted to Facebook because she was “distraught” about the presidential election results. The Facebook post in question also apparently suggested that cops were indifferent to the initial rape allegation. Local police investigated the rape accusation and reportedly determined that it was a hoax after detectives finally located her and conducted an interview, the Kirkland Patch and other news outlets reported.
In a non-hate crime incident, a motorist in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area reportedly told cops that Donald Trump’s presidential win was to blame for an alleged drunk-driving-related, three-car accident that occurred on the evening after Election Day. The driver told the Star Tribune after getting out of jail, however, that she was just being sarcastic when she made a fleeting mention of the president-elect after asking if everyone involved in the accident in the other vehicles were okay. She added that she doesn’t really follow politics.
[Featured Image by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]
