Stamford Couple Faces Fines After Home Painted With Racial Slur

STAMFORD, CT — The NAACP has criticized the city of Stamford after it issued a blight citation to an interracial couple whose garage door was spray-painted with a racial slur.

Homeowner Heather Lindsay said she won't remove the slur until the incident is fully investigated and not swept under the rug, according to the Stamford Advocate. She said she doesn't want the community to forget what happened.

"The Mayor and the Police Department continue to take this incident very seriously, and it continues be an ongoing investigation," said Director of Public Safety Health and Welfare Ted Jankowski. "Immediately following the incident, the Stamford Police Department spoke with the homeowner and neighbors. Police have not been able to find a witness who saw or heard anyone spray painting the sheet-metal garage door. There are a few security cameras in the neighborhood but none captured the incident."

The Police Department has offered to paint the racial slur at no cost, but Lindsay has refused.

The blight fine is $100 a day. Lindsay and common law husband Lexene Charles found the slur spray-painted on the garage door over Martin Luther King Day weekend, according to ABC 7.

The couple intends to fight the fine in court, according to NBC 4 New York. A foreclosure trial for the house is scheduled for March 7.

Jankowski said in a statement that residents would be hard-pressed to recall a similar incident in the past 20 or 30 years that happened in the city.

Supporters of the couple want three specific neighbors investigated whom Lindsay said have previously discriminated against the couple.

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