Vandals spray slogans and spread paint on N.C. State and UNC-CH structures

Jay Price, Staff Writer
The Raleigh News & Observer, April 27

Vandals staged attacks early Wednesday on the buildings used by the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at N.C. State University and UNC-Chapel Hill, echoing similar assaults on three Triangle recruiting stations last month.

As before, vandals sprayed anti-war slogans and profanity, splashed red paint and claimed responsibility with a mass e-mail message to area media outlets.

Lt. Col. Carol Ann Redfield of the Army ROTC program at N.C. State was caught off guard. “This is the first time I know of that anything like this has happened here,” she said. “I certainly appreciate that people have different opinions, and they should be able to express them, but I have a problem when they damage property.”

The e-mail, from someone calling himself “celest ialbeing” said, “Stop these recruitment centers that target poor people and people of color to fight to maintain the power structure that (literally and figuratively) imprisons us daily.”

The vandals sprayed slogans at the base of an entrance to Reynolds Coliseum, which holds the Department of Military Science, and tossed paint onto an ROTC sign above the entrance.

Investigators had good leads, said Sgt. Jon Barnwell of the N.C. State Police Department.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, campus police spokesman Randy Young said investigators were aware of the e-mail and the link with the attack at N.C. State. “We’re certainly looking into that,” he said. Investigators think the UNC Naval Armory was attacked between 4 and 5:30 a.m.

A student who signs up for ROTC mixes military training with regular classes and can get help with college costs in return for serving as an officer after graduation.

It is not clear whether the attacks were related to incidents in March at recruiting offices in Durham and Raleigh, but the subject line on the e-mail message Wednesday was “more red paint and anti-war.”

The attacks Wednesday were coordinated, but that doesn’t mean they were well-planned.

At UNC, the vandals used spray paint for slogans but chose a 5-gallon bucket of water-soluble red paint to splash the landing, columns and steps. A cleanup crew blasted it off with a pressure washer.

“Thank goodness they used water-based paint,” said Angelo Baldwin, a crew member. The slogans — including “we won’t fight your wars!” — also were removed quickly, but the doors must be repainted.

At N.C. State, the slogan “Army ROTC trains murderers resist acts of war” was sprayed in a place all but invisible to passers-by. The vandals’ arsenal also included another puzzling choice: Christmas tree ornaments, which were apparently tossed at the ROTC sign.