An Illinois man has been convicted of writing “KKK” on a Black teen’s car in Waterloo in 2020, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 56 year old Gary Shelton was in Waterloo for work and staying at the Baymont Inn on La Porte Road. The victim was at the hotel celebrating her friend’s high school graduation. This time period was the height of the racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. The victim’s car had a Black Lives Matter message on the back window. Surveillance video shows Shelton pull his boom truck up next to the victim’s car and open his passenger’s door. After a few minutes he pulls away leaving behind “KKK” on the car in an unknown substance that was not easily washed off. In an interview with the FBI, Shelton denied damaging the car but did remember the vehicle. He said the car had messages stating “kill all white people” and “F the police”. Those messages were not on the vehicle. Shelton faces up to five years in prison for what was deemed a hate crime. He will be sentenced at a later date.
