Village police are investigating graffiti – including hateful words and symbols - that was discovered at the Warwick skatepark, Mayor Michael Newhard said Monday.
Village resident Max Ellis said he took his 5-year-old son to the skatepark around 1:30 p.m. Monday, an activity they do about once a week. While there, his son pointed out swastikas and offensive words and pictures - some of it scatological, others noting Hitler and Nazis - that were drawn with marker on the skate ramps, and asked what they meant, Ellis said.
“I had to explain to him about hate speech, and that it was racist and hateful and not cool,” Ellis said. Ellis said he reported it to the police and to Village Hall, then used a thick marker himself to “scribble it out and make the swastikas into squares.”
The village’s response was swift, cleaning most of the graffiti off the concrete ramps within a few hours. Newhard said such expressions had no place in the village, or anywhere else.
“The police are going to investigate it,” he said. “We have video cameras at the property.”
The mayor said he was shocked and saddened at the incident: “We’ve had graffiti before, but never anything of this type.”
By 4:30 p.m. Monday, all that could be found at the skatepark was one four-square symbol that may have started out as a swastika, and a misspelled offensive word. Other graffiti, done in other mediums, remained but consisted of “tags” and other common graffiti artwork.
Skaters at the park late Monday were surprised to hear of the offensive graffiti.