Stamford Woman Meets With Officials Over Racial Slur on Garage

The Connecticut woman who's refusing to remove a racial slur that was spray-painted onto her garage last month has met with Stamford city officials and the NAACP. 

Heather Lindsay, who is white, and her husband Lexene Charles, who is black, say they want to leave the slur scrawled across the garage so the community doesn't forget what happened. The offensive language appeared on their home over the Martin Luther King holiday.

The move hasn’t been sitting well with police, who have issued a blight citation. The City of Stamford has fined the couple $100 for each day the slur stays on their garage door.

"It's unfair for people to have to drive by and see it, and we're offering to take it down," said Stamford Chief of Police Jonathan Fontneau, who has visited the couple's home and told them they're facing arrest in addition to the fines. 

"I don't like seeing that word. I don't like it on a garage, on a piece of paper, anywhere," said Stamford NAACP's Jack Bryant.

But Lindsay said Monday, "They're trying to get us out of the neighborhood, and I'm not going to tolerate it."

Lindsay has other ongoing legal issues with Stamford relating to the foreclosure of her home and $130,000 in fines for previous blight conditions during a renovation. The city agreed Monday to waive the graffiti fees, but not on the other matters. 

Lindsay and her advisors aren't on board. 

"The city needs to withdraw the foreclosure action, void the blight liens. That's it," said Louis Roman. 

Roman says keeping the graffiti is the only leverage she has until the other matters are resolved. Lindsay has a court date next week on the other issues.

"I told them that this is ridulous," Lindsay said after the meeting Monday.

Contact Us