An 18-year-old South Burlington High School graduate is facing a felony unlawful mischief charge for allegedly spray-painting racist graffiti on an athletic field at South Burlington High School on June 6.
Tyler Austin, who graduated in June, was cited Friday to appear on the charge in Vermont Superior Court on August 26. He was released after being cited and remains free until the arraignment.
South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple issued a statement Friday saying the pending charges came after a “lengthy investigation involving numerous interviews, evidence collection and forensic analysis.” He did not say specifically what led police to Austin.
Isaiah Hines, the recent South Burlington High School grad who led the push to drop the Rebels nickname, has said he was the target of the graffiti, and that it referred to him by name as a “dumb nigger.”
Police have been mum on what exactly the graffiti said and who was targeted. “I’m again not repeating nor confirming what was written,” Whipple said Friday. The wording will be public record once an affidavit is filed with the court in the next few weeks, he acknowledged.
Hines told Seven Days that he was relieved to hear of the pending charges.
“I guess it is nice to have some sort of, like, closure,” Hines said.
Austin is a fellow member of the SBHS class of 2017 and recently graduated, according to Hines. “I don’t know him at all,” Hines said. “I never really had any sort of interaction with him.”
Efforts to reach Austin for comment were not immediately successful.
Whipple said he decided not to pursue hate crime charges after studying Vermont’s law. “A hate crime has to have a crime directed at a person and this is a crime directed at property,” Whipple said. He added: “As troubling as it is, it doesn’t qualify.”
Still, Whipple said, the charges are an indication that the community won’t tolerate racist displays.
“This racist-based graffiti is not acceptable and we’re hoping that this sends a message that it’s not acceptable and there are consequences,” he said.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Hold on. If Mr. Hines is right about what the graffiti said, then it WAS directed at a person, and IS a hate crime.
A prominent brow ridge on this guy… Just sayin’….
I think this dumb ass should be sentenced to removing graffiti from Burlington walls with a toothbrush. (30 consecutive days should wake him up.) BTW, he included a name which makes it a hate crime.
Oracle and Fred, it’s not actually a crime directed at the individual. It’s certainly insulting and very distasteful, but that sort of language directed at another person is still legal. The crime in this case is the destruction of property itself.
SteveO – if there was a name it was a hate crime. Spray painting someone’s name in conjunction with a racial slur targets an individual. Also, love the way “Felony Unlawful Mischief” is the charge.
Unlawful Mischief. Ridiculous.
That’s not how the law works at all, written.
What is so ironic is that the person he is calling dumb is headed to NYC and Columbia in the fall. This turkey is likely heading nowhere and he knows it. That is the source of his fury this is the act of impotency. Now besides be a loser white dude stuck in Vermont hes got a criminal felony record on his back forever. He knows he is loser and he is furious like so many of his ilk. I like the idea of making him scrub graffiti off walls for the length of whatever sentence they give him.
Okay, SteveO- maybe you’d like to explain this. http://www.wcax.com/story/9892626/burlingt…
What is the legal definition of “directed” in this case?
Written,
Cannon used racial slurs while threatening to kill an 8-year old child. That’s a crime directed at an individual, thus, the hate crime charge. https://www.hiiraan.com/comments2-news-200…
In this case, there’s no threat of violence, and no crime directed at Hines. Thus, no hate crime charge.
They said they aren’t saying if there was a name..nothing like jumping to conclusions which most of you are doing and the one who said …. “That is the source of his fury this is the act of impotency. Now besides be a loser white dude stuck in Vermont hes got a criminal felony record on his back forever. He knows he is loser and he is furious like so many of his ilk.” Wow sounds like that person is being a racist..I’m not saying the young man isn’t wrong for what he did, because he did destroy property.. but there was no threat against Hines but Hines is afraid of words…like the old adage says.. “STICKS AND STONES CAN BREAK MY BONES BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME”..
? Is it really that hard to look up Vermont statutes? http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/13/031/01455
(Cite as: 13 V.S.A. 1455)
1455. Hate-motivated crimes
A person who commits, causes to be committed, or attempts to commit any crime and whose conduct is maliciously motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age, service in the U.S. Armed Forces, disability as defined by 21 V.S.A. 495d(5), sexual orientation, or gender identity shall be subject to the following penalties:
(1) If the maximum penalty for the underlying crime is one year or less, the penalty for a violation of this section shall be imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both.
Dumb nigger, dumb nigger, dumb nigger, dumb nigger.
Doesn’t sound so bad when at home or work reading it on your desktop or phone. Seems natural doesn’t it? If you agree then petition to ensure this poor white guy doesn’t get charge, so he can teach his children about the 1% of dumb niggers (of 96% white people) in Vermont he has interacted with.
This type of behavior should not be tolerated or normalized. Just reading these comments it surprises and saddens me. Its like we have not learned anything from history.
I know Vermonter pride themselves on how accepting they are but for the ‘others’ who are not or have some preconceived views of people with darker skin, I just want to let you know people of color are not dumb and know when people have these preconceived views.
People of color can sense it. So there is no need to tolerate their presence they acknowledge it when they are shopping or in a coffee shop or simply walking on the street. The stares and/or hesitations by looking down to the floor tell it all.
@Don Johnson nice white savior complex dude. Maybe you should let POC speak for themselves.
I am “colored” lol – but aren’t we all? Besides the point, I am far from poor though, so it seems I can relate 50% of the time.
@Don Johnson the whole “we’re all colored” argument shows that you really have no grasp on what racism and oppression is. Plus, google image searching a black male model and making it your avi to try to lend some validity to your argument is beyond messed up.
@ReneBushey Pivoting… to another topic?? in one thread???? Shocking. How troll-ish of you.
So let me get this straight, you googled image “black male model” and found my avatar. Gold star! Anonymity is a necessity in today’s world as you know Rene… is that with an accentigue? I digress.
I have nothing to say to your response. I’ll let you fight yourself – dogs don’t bark at parked cars.
Lastly, Rene be a leader and use your energy to speak for the ones who do not have a voice, the ones who are disenfranchised as oppose to trying to tear people down with senseless conversations.
Thank God the South Burlington police department spent all those hours,resources,and dedication on finding the teenager,who most likely was drunk, probably while his getaway driver,his black best friend,thought he just sprayed news about their other friend having Trickemosis the wrottenen egg smelling std. The two speed away laughing hysterically on their way to another friends house to spin records. A racially charged epidemic was narrowly defeated once again. As punishment he should have to take a course on the conquest of the Moor’s and be forced to write in spray paint at Brooklyn’s Italian American highschool football field why it is most Italians have dark skin and brown eyes, without the benefit of a getaway driver this time.
@Don Johnson “The stares and/or hesitations by looking down to the floor tell it all.”
So white people can’t look at you and they also can’t look away or they’re racist. That seems well thought out and logically consistent. Can you “sense” the feelings of people of other races in the same way or do your super powers only work on the melanin deficient?