Teens Behind Racist Graffiti At Walt Whitman Arrested, Police Say

BETHESDA, MD — Three teens have been arrested after a drawing of a noose and a racial slur were found spray-painted at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, officials said.

On the morning of Saturday, June 13, Montgomery County police discovered the racist graffiti on the school's storage shed and pavement.

A day later, 18-year-old Jake Foster Hoffman of Bethesda and an unidentified 17-year-old boy turned themselves in, police said in a press release. The boy "took full responsibility" for the June 13 incident, according to authorities.

"He thought it would be fun to have something make the news given the current events occurring in the United States," police said in a statement.

Thousands of protests have been held nationwide since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day. His fatal arrest, along with the recent deaths of other black people, have reignited conversations about racism and police brutality.

Montgomery County police said both Hoffman and the boy felt guilty about defacing school property. A third suspect, who didn't turn himself in with the others on Sunday, was later contacted by police.

"Subsequent police interviews with the three suspects determined that the second juvenile male suggested to the first juvenile male suspect that if he wanted to commit a racially-themed vandalism to the school that he should do it to the front of the school," authorities said. "Hoffman stated that he told the first juvenile male that he should vandalize the utility shed instead of the front of the school."

Police said the graffiti found on Walt Whitman's facade March 1 was similar to what was spotted on the school's storage shed and pavement June 13.

The teen who turned himself in on Sunday also admitted to vandalizing the school on March 1, according to police. He was charged with two counts of destruction of property and released to the custody of his parent, police said.

Hoffman and the second 17-year-old boy were charged with conspiracy to commit destruction of property.