PITTSBURGH (AP) — A 60-year-old white man has been charged with painting racist graffiti on a black-owned barbershop in downtown Pittsburgh.
Police charged Robert Hapchuck, of Cheswick, based on an anonymous tip after publicizing a security video image earlier this week of a man holding a gym bag near the shop.
Victor Musgrove, the owner of VIP Styles, says a worker discovered the graffiti as she arrived Nov. 30.
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The graffiti says, "We are KKK" and then "We kill" and "No" --both followed by a racial slur.
“With everything that's going on, I feel like it should be prosecuted as a hate crime,” Musgrove said.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Hapchuck, who faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 21 on charges of ethnic intimidation and criminal mischief.
The Associated Press could not locate a listed phone number for Hapchuck, who did not immediately return a message sent to his Facebook page.
This story was written by The Assocaited Press.