Muncie Mayor Tyler blasts racist graffiti in city park

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - The mayor of Muncie says whoever's responsible for racist graffiti in one of his city's parks will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Mayor Dennis Tyler posted a video on the city's Facebook page Friday calling the graffiti "a hate crime."

He says Parks Superintendent Harvey Wright had shown "some young men of color" a fishing spot in the park on Thursday, but when they returned Friday they were met with the graffiti containing racial slurs and a crudely drawn Confederate flag. Tyler held up photos of the graffiti in the nearly four-minute video.

Tyler says "This type of cowardly conduct will not be tolerated in our city." He says He "cannot imagine how these young men felt." He called the graffiti "horrifying and horrible."