Parents enraged after Marion County park covered in racist, antisemitic graffiti

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — For more than 100 days, Hilton Smith has watched graffiti cover nearly every surface of the Gail D. Helvie Park near his home.

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Some of the vandalism includes crude anatomical drawings, names, initials, and a plug for the popular video game Fortnite.

Other, more recent appearances have consisted of swastikas and racial slurs on a dock Smith’s children use to fish.

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“I served in the army, and to think I’ve had to come back to this is insane,” Smith said. “I have an 11-year-old daughter, a 12-year-old son who ask me ‘Why is it that we’re being hated? Why does it say that they want us to die?’”

Smith and other neighbors who spoke to WFTV said they offered to paint over the graffiti themselves but were told they could be charged with vandalism.

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They said they were told special paint was being ordered, but nothing has changed.

Through a phone call, the property manager said they’ve attempted to clean the park with three different chemicals. None of the treatments worked.

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She said the HOA approved the use of a fourth, stronger chemical at their last board meeting that was scheduled to be sprayed Friday.

Should that not work, the community members said they planned to come Saturday morning and clean up the park themselves. The property manager didn’t outright discourage that and said she would support the creation of a group to watch over the park, since the cameras that were supposed to keep an eye on things were themselves vandalized.

“I just want to get the park cleaned up,” Smith said. “Whatever community that wants to enjoy this park should be able to without having to witness and see these horrific things printed everywhere.”

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