Editor's note: This article contains images from social media that some may find offensive.
A Jacksonville, Ark., man has been forced to drive around in his badly vandalized vehicle after, he claims, two white men sprayed racist graffiti all over it, THV11 reports.
Reshod Johnson said that the incident unfolded when he stopped by his job for about 15 minutes last week to pick up chairs for his son's birthday party. When he returned to his car, he found it covered, inside and out, with slurs and other racist remarks and symbols. The vandals also reportedly stole clothes and valuables that were inside the vehicle.
"I just don't understand it. I don't do anything to hurt anybody," Johnson told the news station. "I don't go out looking for trouble.”
Johnson said that he and a friend saw two white men driving a red pickup truck and that the men were stealing items from his car. When he went to confront them, he said, they ran away.
"It's a 2006 [Nissan]. I mean, it's just the point that I bought it myself and I have taken care of it all this time," Johnson said.
Johnson, who is also a full-time student, acknowledged that money is already tight. With Christmas right around the corner, he now has to spend more money on removing the hateful slurs from the car instead of spending it on his loved ones.
In the meantime, he also refuses to allow his 3-year-old son in the vehicle.
The young father has filed a police report, but he still wants to bring more attention to what happened.
"We're supposed to have advanced past this, and to serve the country and to serve everyone and to fight for rights and freedom for everyone, and for this to happen, it's like a slap in the face and makes you wonder for what," Johnson said.
A bystander noticed Johnson's car at a gas station over the weekend and lamented over the state of the car of his car, writing on Facebook, "Now I know everyone likes to tiptoe around the whole Racism doesn't exist anymore. … But, this proves that its alive and well … [a]nd is no longer done in private. [It’s] uncut raw and in your face!"
Read more at THV11.