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A white family in Goldsboro, North Carolina said they are under attack and have been targeted with hateful messages and had their vehicle set ablaze and vandalized all because their 14-year-old daughter was involved in an interracial relationship, WSOCTV reports.
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On Tuesday, authorities in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office announced that they are investigating the attack as an alleged hate crime because the teen was previously in a relationship with an African-American teen boy.
The family’s minivan was spray-painted with swastika signs and racist messages like “[the N-word] loving b*tch” and another vehicle was set on fire said Maj. Richard Lewis, a spokesman for the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
“This case is being investigated as a hate crime,” Lewis said in a news release Wednesday afternoon. “The (State Bureau of Investigation) has been contacted and briefed on the case and the investigation.”
“It just makes your heart sink,” Amanda Miller, the girl’s mother, told the local ABC affiliate WTVD.
“I’ve always tried to instill in her: Be friends with who is good to you, like who is good to you,” she said.
Miller said she has always encouraged her daughter to be open to all races, saying it doesn’t matter “what color somebody is” or “what race they are.”
Miller explained that her daughter met the boy at a local church and they are not currently dating. It’s not clear whether they broke up because of the incident or beforehand. However, Miller said the boy’s mother has been supportive after learning of the incident.
The girl is now out of state visiting family, but according to reports, police plan to comb through her social media to try to get a possible lead on who could be involved with the attack.
The sheriff’s office plans to share its findings from the case with the state’s Bureau of Investigation.