Several instances of vandalism and criminal mischief occurred in Adel last weekend, when an unknown person or persons spray painted a residential property with racist and homophobic graffiti.
At least one private residence was defaced by the haters, according to a Facebook post on the Adel Positivity page, where comments were plentiful.
“Unfortunately, there is a very active, strong racist group in Adel threatening a lot of people,” said one person on Facebook in response to the graffiti. “We are having a ‘community for solidarity’ event Wednesday night.”
The defacement of the private residence was reported to the Adel Police Department, according to the victim. Adel Police Chief Gordy Shepherd said the June 7 crime appeared to be an isolated incident, and he was unaware of any other graffiti in Adel.
Another Facebook commenter said she “noticed the bowling alley and building west of the bowling alley also have graffiti.” ThePerryNews.com has not confirmed the commenter’s claim, but the bowling alley owner said there was “no new graffiti or vandalism to report” on Facebook.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, with a population of 5,316, Adel is 98% white and .5% African American. Iowa as a whole has a population of 3.1 million people, of whom 91% are white and 4% are African American.
“It is very important for our community to know that hatred exists,” one Facebook responder said. “I often feel like too many are in denial.”
Anyone with information about the crimes are asked to call the Dallas County Sheriff’s office at 515-993-4567.
