Bronx Man Arrested For Racist Graffiti At African Burial Ground

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — A 57-year-old Bronx man is in custody for allegedly scrawling a racist slur at the African Burial Ground National Monument earlier this month, police said Tuesday.

Ivan Nieves is accused of writing "Kill N-----s" in black marker on a plaque at the federal monument in Lower Manhattan on Nov. 1. The hate-fueled vandalism sparked outrage from elected officials and the city's African American community who demanded swift justice.

Investigators from Federal Protective Services and the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force tracked Nieves on surveillance footage and busted him in the Bronx nearly three weeks after the vandalism was discovered by a stunned West Village poet who reached out authorities and the media.

Charges against Nieves are pending. He is expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday, authorities said.

Photo courtesy of David Allen/Patch