S.C. NAACP President Lonnie Randolph described Wednesday's racial graffiti sprayed on Columbia City Hall as nothing more than vandalism.
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COLUMBIA -- South Carolina's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is downplaying the discovery of racial graffiti on Columbia City Hall Wednesday morning as an isolated incident.
State NAACP President Lonnie Randolph tells WACH FOX News that while he thinks racism still plays a role in many aspects of South Carolina's culture, he sees this particular incident as the work of one person and not part of a larger trend.
"The fact that this was sprayed on City Hall is vandalism; not anything more than that," said Randolph.
City officials discovered the slur early Wednesday morning on the Laurel Street side of city hall. The graffiti used an offensive term for African-Americans and opposed the city having a black mayor.
Attorney Steve Benjamin is one of three leading candidates running to be the city's next mayor. He would be Columbia's first African-American mayor, if elected.
The Benjamin campaign declined to discuss whether the graffiti was targeted toward him. Spokesman Michael Wukela said the campaign would issue a statement later in the day.
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said the city has surveillance video of the incident that police are reviewing. No arrests have been made.
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