Man, 35, arrested after black family wakes to find swastika painted on their home
16 June 2020, 23:33
A man has been arrested in Wales after a swastika was painted on a black family's home.
Margaret Ogunbanwo found the racist scrawl on her garage door on Saturday morning, and North Wales Police have been investigating the incident as a hate crime.
The 35-year-old suspect is currently in police custody and enquiries are ongoing following the incident.
Since the graffiti was discovered, the community has rallied around Margaret and her family in support.
The garage will soon be turned into a mural of hope against racism, but Margaret wanted to keep the offensive symbol on her home to make others feel uncomfortable and to remind people why Black Lives Matter protests are going ahead.
"I just wanted to keep it there because it makes me feel uncomfortable and I wanted everyone to share in my discomfort," she told LBC's Maajid Nawaz.
Ms Ogunbanwo said: "I checked all the other homes and there was nothing on any of the other homes and we are the only blacks in the village, so I thought it must have been that."
The business owner, originally from Nigeria, told LBC she "thought we got past this" as a country.
After reaching out to the community, her company - Maggie’s Exotic Foods - is now "booming" with people supporting her family from across Wales and the rest of the UK.
Her neighbours have also rallied around her and were pictured coming together as a team to clean the white paint off.
She shared a photo of the swastika on Facebook, with the caption: "So friends and family, it's usually pictures of my morning walks, but this is what confronted me on my house this morning!
"What's to be said?"
