Shady Spring, WV – Marcus Stapleton, a veteran fears for the safety of his family after his car was vandalized right in his backyard.
The suspects spray-painted Marcus Stapleton’s vehicle with an antiדemitic threat.
A citizen who lives in Shady Spring has been the victim of a hate crime. Marcus Stapleton has been a resident of Shady Spring for five years and has never faced this sort of hostility from the community.
“I had came outside and someone had spray painted ‘die Jew’ down the side of my car,” said Marcus Stapleton.
Marcus Stapleton, an army veteran who has fought in wars, but never expected the war to be right in his own backyard.
Late Monday night, Stapleton heard a commotion in his backyard. He heard laughter but by the time he made it outside, the vandals were already down the road.
What was left in the aftermath was an antisemitic threat alongside his vehicle. The black spray paint can be covered, but the threat and fear remains.
“It is a threat on a spray-painted vehicle. Like, how can you get past that?” said Stapleton.
The Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office was notified and an investigation is underway.
The authorities believe it may be kids playing a prank. However with the synagogue in Beckley only a short drive away, the threat becomes more than just a harmless prank.
“This is just too far. Me and my family, we aren’t even Jews. But we stand up for the Jewish community,” said Stapleton.
Stapleton added that his family has visited Israel thirty-three times, always bringing supplies and clothing for the less fortunate.
The veteran tells us that with all the good that he and his family have done, God has a plan and something positive may come from this vandalism.
