An 18-year-old North Carolina man accused of spray-painting racist symbols across public and private property is now at the center of a heated online racial debate after police arrested him again days later on gun-related charges in Fayetteville. That’s because the man’s skin color is not exactly what one would usually expect when picturing someone who paints racist symbolism as graffiti.
According to the Fayetteville Police Department, officers first arrested Taquon Jameek Vereen on May 2 after witnesses reported someone painting WW2 Germany’s racist emblems on buildings, stop signs, and city-owned equipment along Reilly Road. Authorities said investigators also reviewed social media videos allegedly showing Vereen spray-painting additional symbols around the city.
Police charged Vereen with two counts of misdemeanor damage to real property and second-degree trespassing. He was released on a $1,500 secured bond. Just days later, Fayetteville police said they received multiple emergency calls reporting an armed man allegedly pointing a handgun at pedestrians and passing vehicles near Bridgeman Drive. Officers said the suspect fled when police arrived, leading to a short chase before authorities recovered a handgun nearby.
It was Vereen, who was arrested again and charged with going armed to the terror of people and assault by pointing a gun. He is currently being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $2,500 secured bond. While the criminal allegations themselves drew local attention, the story exploded online after social media users began focusing on Vereen’s race. Vereen was identified as Black in early reporting about the racist and hate symbol vandalism.
People online did some digging
Some of the commenters on a viral X post regarding Vereen’s story have also looked him up online on a voter registry and even pointed out that he voted for the Republican party, hence accusations were thrown into the mix, such as, “Well would you look at that. Another [fascist] Republican,” referring to the fascist group which started WW2.
Others appeared more callous to the fact that there are neo-fascists similar to Vereen, who are “more common than you think.” They aren’t exactly White, which is contradictory to the ideology that’s inherently White supremacist. With that said, authorities have not publicly identified or announced any ideological motive behind Vereen’s vandalism allegations, and police have not announced any hate crime enhancements related to the case.
Meanwhile, other X users have also argued with one another, suggesting that individuals who use extremist imagery are not always formally connected to organized hate groups. “He’s just randomly spray painting. He probably doesn’t even know what that is,” claims one commenter, though such points have led to a further chain of racial debates.
