Arrest in Henry County Vandalism Case

HAMPTON, Ga. - Police have arrested these two men and four teenagers.

Michael Parks and Noah Bishop, both 17, were charged with 16 counts of criminal trespassing.

Police said they're the ones who sprayed offensive graffiti on more than a dozen homes and cars in two Henry County subdivisions.

The graffiti contained graphic sexual drawings and racist language.

Henry County Residents Clean Up

Homeowners in two subdivisions must now begin the clean-up process after vandals struck during the overnight.

"When we got the knock on the door at three o'clock in the morning by the policeman, we were surprised," said Sandra Merchant, who described the area as quiet and friendly.

Henry County Police said at least 15 homes were hit some time after midnight Saturday in the Fears Mill and Gold Leaf subdivisions. The messages were painted in a reddish pink paint and ranged from sexual images to racist slurs.

"When I first saw it, it scared me," said Cathy Holt who found the n-word painted across her garage door.  "If this word had been on anyone else's door, then I would've felt a little bit different about it, but to target me and only me scared me a little bit."

Napoleon Brooks serves as president of a neighborhood board. He said he did not feel the vandals targeted any individuals because similar messages were left on homes and cars all over the neighborhood. Brooks said his group will distribute flyers Saturday to inform residents about what happened.

Community Stands Against Vandalism

Local leaders and community members joined together Monday evening at a neighborhood meeting in Hampton to show a united front against recent vandalism. Early Saturday morning, someone targeted more than twenty homes and cars, defacing them with graphic sexual images, references to the Ku Klux Klan, and racial slurs.

Henry County Police and the Henry County Sheriff's Office are both investigating the vandalism. Luckily, whoever is responsible used a kind of paint that easily washed off. Despite that, members of the community say they will not tolerate this in their own backyard.

"We have to understand things like this come from a position of hate," said Sarah Billups, a member of the Henry County NAACP. "We cannot build on hate, we have to build on love."