July 15, 2011
Anti-Gay Graffiti Found at Grove Hotel
Kevin Mark Kline READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A spray painted tag that read "fuck gays" was found on a wall on the north side of the Grove Hotel on June 8.
Wendy Lewis of the Grove Hotel told The News that the complex's surveillance camera caught the two men-a lookout and another who actually spray painted the graffiti-on tape. She said Suffolk County police assured her that an arrest is imminent."They think they know who it is," said Lewis.
The Suffolk County Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force continues to investigate the incident, but a SCPD official told The News that the graffiti is not considered a hate crime because it did not target a specific person. An arrest had not been made as of deadline.
Lewis said there have been previous incidents of graffiti at the hotel, but nothing with such an overtly anti-gay message. "There has been homophobia, but it's always been uttered and not painted," she said. "We've had graffiti too, but not anti-gay graffiti."
