Black Kansas Man Admits Painting Racial Slurs On His Car

Riley County Police Department (RCPD) said Monday they wouldn't be filing criminal charges against a Manhattan, Kansas, man for painting his car with racist and obscene graffiti.

Twenty one-year-old Dauntarius Williams has admitted to defacing his car, which he said was done as part of a Halloween prank.

The graffiti was first spotted on Williams’ car on the morning of Nov. 3 on 2200 block of Claflin Rd. A neighbor had then reported the alleged defacement to the police.

Police said that during the course of their investigation Williams admitted to painting his black Dodge Avenger with racist and obscenity-laced messages.

According to the police, Williams expressed apology that his actions had resulted in negative attention. Williams had sprayed the racist graffiti that featured racial slurs like “go home,” “date your own kind,” and “die.”

According to New York Post, Williams said, “The whole situation got out of hand when it shouldn’t have even started. It was just a Halloween prank that got out of hand. I wish I could go back to that night but I can’t. I just want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the pain and news I have brought you all.”

Brad Schoen, director of the RCPD, told the Post, “While Williams' mistake had a decidedly negative impact on the community, please recognize that he, like many of us when we were young, is a young man who made a mistake and is now doing his best to own up to it.”

According to RCPD Attorney Barry Wilkerson, Williams did not make the initial police report but a neighbor had done so. Williams had apparently meant to wash off the graffiti, but was yet to do it when the neighbor reported the alleged defacement.

Wikerson explained that when police went to Williams, he could not inform the department immediately that it was a Halloween prank and that he had painted the graffiti himself.

Wikerson said that Williams being young could not analyze the situation in which he was trapped.

Following his confession, Schoen and Wilkerson concluded that filing criminal charges against him would not be in the best interests of the people in the Manhattan community.

According to 41KSHB, the FBI assisted in the investigation of the case. However, according to various reports, the incident sparked reactions from Kansas State University (KSU) students.

The reports also said that the Black Student Union at KSU held an emergency meeting to discuss how to stop racism on campus following news of the graffiti. Some students said they were very angry, but not surprised by the act.

According to the Kansas City Star, Andrew Hammond, a journalism student at KSU said, “As a black student who has witnessed racist incidents first-hand around Manhattan this hurts the credibility of students who actually want to step out and say something about it.” Hammond added, “I’m not sure what type of human being does this kind of thing as a prank.”