Newmarket councillor responds to racist graffiti
Posted December 28, 2011 1:16 pm.
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Newmarket councillor Maddie Di Muccio called racist graffiti in the town an “alarming problem” and an example of “atrocious behaviour.”
Di Muccio made the comments in an email to CityNews.ca after Seun Oyinsan and his wife Rita Brown, an interracial couple, woke up to the word “N****r” scrawled on their car on Christmas Day.
Swastikas were also spray painted on their vehicles and garage, and nails were placed under the tires. It’s the third time the couple has been targeted since the summer, Oyinsan said.
Di Muccio said she has spoken with York Region police superintendent Stan Colley about this issue, and that she would bring the incident up to the town’s Inclusivity Committee at a January meeting.
Police visited the couple’s home on Wednesday, assuring them that they are seeking the culprits.
“The Inspector came by this morning he apologized and he said, ‘don’t think that we are not doing everything we can, we are,’ ” said Brown.
“We feel more secure.”
Newmarket resident Evelyn Fox said she was “absolutely disgusted” by the attack in an email to CityNews and Di Muccio.
“I cannot understand how it is that…there has not been any arrests made yet,” she wrote.
Rita Brown said that one vandal left threatening messages in the summer.
“It was saying that they would kill if necessary,” she told CityNews in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
“They don’t want us around the neighbourhood. And then a couple weeks after that we went out again and there was nails and wood under our tires again. They sprayed our truck with acid.”
Police are asking neighbours to call them if they notice anything suspicious.
“There are numerous officers on the case right now. We are obviously asking any member of the public who lives in that area to be vigilant,” said P.C. Blair McQuillan.
The couple maintain that if an arrest isn’t made over the next few days, they will be putting their home up for sale.
