BREAK-IN PROBED AS HATE CRIME IN N.J.
MOONACHIE, N. J. Shortly after New York Giants fullback Nikita Whitlock recounted the feelings of disappointment and confusion that have emerged since his home was broken into Tuesday and defaced with racially charged epithets, local police announced they were investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Whitlock returned home with his family Tuesday night and found “KKK,” three swastikas and other racist language scrawled on the walls of their home. The largest word, “Trump,” was written in marker on a wall leading up a staircase.
Whitlock’s immediate thought upon entering his home was to make sure he kept his family safe, he said Thursday, but in the hours after the incident he reflected on what was littered throughout his home.
“Of course there are the common feelings you have of being violated, feelings of hatred, feelings of ‘ Why us?’ which, it’s apparent why us,” Whitlock said. “I don’t think we felt targeted at first … then as you see it and how specific some of the things are on the walls, and then we actually had an attempted break-in three weeks prior … it just felt like somebody was definitely trying to get us.”
Moonachie police confirmed Wednesday that they were investigating the break-in and racially charged vandalism. Sgt. Richard Behrens said Thursday that police were investigating it as a hate crime and canvassing the area for any neighbors who might have seen something or had security cameras with footage that police could review.
Thursday, Whitlock had covered up the scrawls with large bedsheets in an effort to shield his son from the words of hate. The home’s side door had a large crack in its window and its metal wiring was mangled.
While Whitlock said he had recently spoken to his son about race relations in the country — specifically since Donald Trump was elected president — he said he thought the timing was not right to explain exactly what happened, besides a robbery.
Whitlock said he posted a photo of some of the more offensive slurs on his Instagram page because it was “something that needed to be out there.” After discussing it with his family, Whitlock said they decided people needed to know that racist attacks “can happen to anyone.”
“I’m one of the last people you think this would happen to,” he said. “I’m in a nice area, I make good money, I keep to myself, and I’m not flashy. … Instead of coming close to home, they came inside. I have a lot of peers and a lot of family and people in my circle who don’t believe these kinds of things can happen to them or to me or to us. Everybody thinks, ‘ Oh, wow, that was close to home’ because it was in your town or it was in the city next to you. We’re not the only ones affected by this.”
When Whitlock called his mother and grandmother, they cried at the news, he said.
“Everybody is hurt by this,” he said. “For them as well as us, it is inside their house, too.”
The fact that “Trump” was written in large letters along the wall leading to the second floor of his home bothered Whitlock, he said. The name was covered Thursday by a large sheet.
“It’s pretty simple: They broke in, they vandalized, they shared their opinion — they could have shared it on Facebook, but they decided to share it in this fashion,” he said.
“I think the one thing that does disturb me more is the fact that people are using Trump’s name. To me, it’s like, ‘ OK, you believe Trump believes certain things.’ But he wasn’t here. This was a personal decision, not a Trump decision. So next time, write your name on the wall.”
Brian McCarthy, vice president of communications for the NFL, said the league offered Whitlock and his family a “home security assessment.”
Pat Hanlon, the senior vice president of communications for the Giants, declined to comment but added that the team and NFL have offered security assistance to Whitlock and his family.