By Heart of Illinois ABC
NORMAL – Using black spray paint, vandals drew graffiti at multiple locations in Uptown Normal and at Illinois State University, apparently showing their disdain for police, authorities confirmed early Thursday morning.
A viewer provided HOI ABC a half-dozen photos of the damage, telling us the graffiti could be seen throughout the Uptown area. Two of the photos show the letters ACAB, which the Anti-Defamation League’s website said is an anti-police slur.
ACAB is “a slogan of long standing in the skinhead subculture,” the ADL said.
“Because non-racist skinheads (including “traditional” skinheads and anti-racist skinheads) may use this acronym as well as racist skinheads, it should be carefully judged in the context in which it appears,” the organization said.
The ADL was founded more than a century ago to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate.
Normal Police said they were called about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday to investigate what officers labeled as “criminal defacement” at locations including the Bloomington-Normal Hotel and Conference Center.
NPD said ISU Police also were investigating graffiti on multiple campus sites.
Police said there have been no arrests.
The vandalism locally comes amid heightened racial tensions in the U.S. and calls for police reform after a white officer shot an African American man Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back, and his family said he might never walk again, and on Memorial Day, the death of another African-American, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis Police sparked days of rioting and looting nationwide, including Bloomington-Normal and Peoria.
Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected].
