Hate crime?

Mayor claims she was hate crime victim after 'yellow, sticky substance' found on car. But cops have simpler explanation

'It ignited some fear in my spirit. My God, who would do that?'

 DAVE URBANSKI

Darnell Byrd McPherson — the volunteer mayor of Lamar, South Carolina — said she was a hate crime victim after finding a "yellow, sticky substance" that seemed to have been sprayed on her car early last month, Newsweek reported.

McPherson had returned to her home Feb. 7 and told the magazine that her husband "went out to the car to get some things out of the garage. He says, 'Somebody's painted your car!'"
It was a "grainy substance" like industrial spray foam used to patch concrete, Newsweek said, and "looked like little pebbles." The stuff was on her husband's car as well.
McPherson told Newsweek she "likened it as a hate crime because No. 1, there's a history [of racism] in our town of Lamar."
In a statement to WPDE-TV, the mayor said, "During the 70s, crosses were burned in the yard of our home when my Mother was involved with the civil rights movement. On this very same corner in this very same front yard!"
But Newsweek said police have a simpler explanation: pollen.

Huh?

An incident report the magazine obtained said McPherson and her husband streaked fingers over their cars' surfaces and "realized it was not paint and that the substance could be removed with a finger; similar to pollen."
Her statement to WPDE noted: "The incident happened last night. Even though I drove my car today, I thought it was pollen. My husband and our neighbor noticed the cars looked like someone had spray painted on both our vehicles, which were parked in our front yard."
Nevertheless, McPherson told Newsweek the incident haunted her: "It ignited some fear in my spirit. My God, who would do that? It was something; it was just unnerving to me."H
And while no words or symbols were drawn through the substance, she told the magazine "to me that was the message."
Also the executive director of Darlington County First Steps — which aims to strengthen families through education, Newsweek said — McPherson had no possible motives for a person or people targeting her.

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