Racial tensions at an Oklahoma high school boil over in the form of a two-day vandalism spree that left band room countertops marked with “KKK” and “I kill n—–.”
Police in Edmond, Oklahoma, are searching for three suspects shown breaking into Edmond Santa Fe High School in surveillance video and spraying the school with the KKK symbols and racial slurs.
The incidents took place between 4 p.m. June 17 and 1:07 a.m. June 18, according to The Edmond Sun.
The suspects are accused of breaking into the school through a storage room and vandalizing several different areas of the campus.
“They look like teenagers, but they have done an extensive amount of damage,” Edmond police spokeswoman Jenny Wagnon told Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR-TV.
The suspects set off a fire extinguisher, knocked over trash cans and stole golf carts, police said. Authorities found slurs on dry erase boards and in school hallways. The slurs on the boards included “N – – – – -,” “I KILL N – – – – -,” and “KKK.”
“Window coverings and light switches were also spray painted randomly,” Wagnon said.
Police started investigating the incident when an officer found blood on the seats and steering wheel of a damaged golf cart near the school overnight, KFOR-TV reported.
The officer also found a hammer on the ground near one of the school’s back entrances.
Police have not said how the blood and hammer are related to the vandalism, if the suspects are students at the school or if anyone was hurt in the incidents. The suspects face charges of burglary in second degree, grand larceny (over $1,000), and malicious injury or destruction of property.
The recent case followed an earlier race-related assault claim on the same campus Feb. 25, 2019.
Kenneth Dewayne Jones, an 18-year-old Black student at the school, was charged with assault and battery after video showed him knocking off a white student’s “Make America Great Again” hat, the Edmond Sun reported.
The student, Lane Roberson, was also wearing a Trump banner as a cape.
David Roberson, the teen’s father, told The Edmond Sun he advised the city attorney to pursue charges, and Jones would subsequently be charged with assault and battery over the incident.
“We are proud that our son has and will continue to show his patriotism, love for his country, and support for the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump,” David Roberson told the Edmond Sun.
It’s unclear if this incident is related to the recent reports of vandalism at the school.
Authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying the suspects in that case.
“We think somebody out in the community knows who this is,” Wagnon told KFOR-TV.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 405-359-4416.
