Vandal Carves Racial Slur on Interracial Couple’s Car in Logan Circle

Someone etched a racist message on a car belonging to a Logan Circle couple in a suspected hate crime earlier this month.

A vandal carved the word “n—-r” into the front passenger side of a Corvette Z06 parked in an alley along the 1400 block of Corcoran Street NW sometime on Saturday, Oct. 1, according to a police report.

The man who owns the car, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, Glynn, said he believes he was targeted because he’s black and his wife is white.

“I don’t think this is a random act. Especially when somebody’s going to use that particular slur,” Glynn told Borderstan.

Glynn recalled he was covering his wife’s car with a tarp on Sunday, Oct. 2, when he first noticed the slur, which appears to have been etched into his car with a key.

Though he called the District’s non-emergency line to report the vandalism, they redirected him to D.C. Police. Within about a half hour, two officers were canvassing the area near Glynn’s house. Later, a detective came to aid in the investigation.

“They went up and down the alley looking for video cameras,” he said. “They have contacted a couple of the neighbors and grabbed some video footage.”

As police worked, Glynn said many of his neighbors came over to check on him.

“Their response was all the same,” he said. “Shock and horror.”

Though Glynn said he and his wife have gotten to know most of his neighbors in the 19 years they’ve lived in Logan Circle, he can’t help but wonder whether someone who recently moved to the neighborhood did it.

“I haven’t tried to figure it out or get in the head of whoever did this too much,” he said. “I guess they had a pre-existing hate condition before they moved here.”

Glynn added that his wife has been particularly affected by the crime.

“She couldn’t sleep the night after it happened,” he said. “Everybody she looked at, [she was thinking], ‘Was it you? Was it you?'”

Although the hateful act has also shaken Glynn’s faith, he’s trying not to let it get to him too much.

“This is the work of one failed individual,” Glynn said. “I really can’t see changing my outlook on life based on the reactions of one impotent coward.”

Photo courtesy of Glynn