Wallingford parents say their children are being targeted by offensive graffiti and that someone spray-painted racial obscenities in an abandoned building in town.
WALLINGFORD, Conn. — Sometimes, graffiti can display art or positive messages, but in other cases, it can include hate speech like racial slurs and derogatory comments aimed at someone in particular.
An abandoned building in downtown Wallingford stands at 50 South Main St. It’s where local parent Kristy Wininger came to lay her eyes on hate speech directed at her African-American son plastered on the walls.
“He was friends with these two girls who he’s no longer allowed to hang out with,” said Wininger. “They’ve been doing nothing but harassing him. We found out that they came into this building and wrote his name. They [allegedly] put ‘Jamal is a N word.'”
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Jamal is a student at Dag Hammarskjold Middle School. Wininger says they were sent pictures of the graffiti through her sister.
“My heart dropped for my son,” said Wininger. “We were at the mall when we got them, and my son was trying not to cry while we were in the middle of the mall. There’s been text messages; I’ve told him to ignore it, but this was the final straw.”
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For Jamal, the bullying has been going on for two years. For Casey Dingus, a student at Lyman Hall High School, it’s been five months.
“Last year, I’d let people make jokes about my deafness,” said Casey. “I was getting called Hellen Keller. Getting told shut the f up deaf b word. I ended up telling my mom because I was just feeling like there was nothing else I could do. I didn’t want to do indoor track, and that’s the thing I love most. My grades had been slipping really bad.”
Casey says that abuse came from one of the students allegedly involved with the graffiti, and now her mother Jennifer banks says the culprits are trying to frame her daughter for it.
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“A few people have been framed, but now the target is my daughter,” said Banks. “They put her initials on the wall with swastikas. They’ve told people at school ‘It was Casey.’”
Banks says they’ve gone to school administration, but nothing has been done.
“I think it’s worse than the bullying that the adults aren’t protecting her. And, I will pull her from school if I have to,” said Banks.
The Wallingford Police Department says it’s investigating the graffiti and that they have suspects but aren’t ready to reveal them yet.
FOX61 also reached out the Wallingford Mayor’s Office and Wallingford Public Schools Superintendent’s Office to ask for comment on the issue, but they have not yet responded.
Jamel Johnson is a Multi-Skilled Journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jjohnson@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
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