Arlington, homeowners clash over removal of racist graffiti from their garage
Arlington: Resident denies shoving worker sent to clean off slurs
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, March 20, 2008
By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News
debdennis@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – City workers on Wednesday removed racist graffiti sprayed on an Arlington family's home in December, but the offensive language didn't go without a fight.
Property owner Broderick Gamble was cited for simple assault for allegedly shoving a city worker as she wiped away graffiti from the garage doors of his northwest Arlington home. The Class C misdemeanor is punishable by up to a $500 fine, police said.
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Wednesday's confrontation was the latest episode in the long-running controversy involving Mr. Gamble's and Ms. Littlejohn's Arlington home, which has been under construction for three years. The couple had used a tarp to cover the words "KILL" and "DIE
" that were spray-painted on their garage doors after a December attack by a neighbor.
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But city officials said that simply covering the remarks was inadequate and did not comply with the city's abatement laws. On March 5, city officials informed Mr. Gamble and Ms. Littlejohn that they had until March 14 to either remove the offensive words or appeal the city's ruling.
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"They've had replacement doors for weeks," said City Attorney Jay Doegey. "Nuisance abatement is what we were trying to do all along. The problem is they were ignoring it."
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/arlington/stories/DN-graffiti_20met.ART0.West.Edition1.463d0b5.html
There's more at the link.