Racist graffiti found in Keene park in Peterborough area

[Michael Jack]

'KKK' spraypainted on building at David N. McIntyre Memorial Park in Keene

PETERBOROUGH -- On the heels of Peterborough being crowned the hate crime capital of the country, Peter Armour brushes grey paint over a KKK symbol that was spray painted on the walls of the bathroom at the David N. McIntyre Memorial Park in Keene.

The racial slur, which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacy group, was discovered on Tuesday (July 16), according to Mr. Armour.

“Good grief, it is 2013,” says the disgusted Mr. Armour, a member of the Keene’s Lions Club, who looks after the park.

“It is pretty disappointing and pathetic.”

The Peterborough County OPP are investigating, according to Constable Bruce Hanna.

“There’s no suspects at this time and it doesn’t appear to be targeting anybody,” he explains, noting that they take these calls seriously.

“Even if it is done as a joke, the people need to be educated in the fact that this isn’t a joking matter,” he adds.

The Peterborough region had the highest rate of hate crimes reported by police in 2011, according to Statistics Canada. With 22 hate crimes recorded, the Peterborough census metropolitan area had a rate of 17.9 hate crimes per 100,000 people.

Of the 22 reported crimes, 19 were dealt with by City police. Twelve of the crimes were motivated by race, four by sexual orientation and three by religion. Seven of the 19 crimes involved threats, six involved mischief and five involved assaults.

http://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/38 ... eene-park/

[Gkuke]

That would be equivalent to writing OPP on the wall