A Black couple from Texas woke up to see their cars burned and “Trump 20” spray-painted on the garage door.
On Wednesday, December 9, the incident took place in Texas after a couple put a Black Lives Matter sign in their yard. Charles Crawford and Jayla Gipson told WWFA that they think the Black Lives Matter sign on their car have triggered the felons to burn their vehicles.
The couple, whose residence is in Little Elm, told the media that it had been just two weeks since they had put a BLM sign in their yard.
The couple was devastated by the incident and said whoever had done this should’ve removed the sign if it was offensive but setting someone’s home on fire is something beyond limits.
Gipson’s 21-year-old son was the first to know about the incident as he smelled smoke while going to the washroom at midnight. The family rushed to the driveway, and there they saw their Kia Forte and Nissan Optima burning into ashes.
Apart from the burning of cars, the garage door was spray-painted with “Trump 20,” and the same red paint was used to sabotage the BLM sign.
Gipson, while talking to NBC News, said it was assuredly a hate crime. Firefighters reached the home timely and successfully extinguish the blazes, but they couldn’t stop the damage caused to the cars. The front bumper was completely charred, and the windows were partially broken.
“Had not my son noticed the blazes outside, my house might have burned down,” The distressed Gipson said.
She also said that her daughter’s room is near the yard, and if they haven’t extinguished the fire timely, it would have caused a significant loss. They were not sure about the purpose behind the attack, but after seeing Trump 2020 on the wall, they are convinced that somebody has purposely done it.
Crawford said that the neighbors had been very considerate. One of the neighbors brought up a power washer, another gifted them a camera to install in their yard, and one bought paint to cover the Trump 2020.
He thanked all of these kind people. A GoFundMe has also been raised for the family as they’re not in the position to recover the loss without financial aid.
Authorities are investigating the matter, but no arrest has been made yet.