ST. CHARLES COUNTY — A custodian at Francis Howell High School faces a felony charge for writing racially derogatory statements last week on bathroom walls and stalls at the school, authorities said.
Court records said Tyler Alan Carter, 25, of St. Charles, was charged Wednesday with harassment motivated by discrimination to frighten or disturb others, a felony. He also faces a misdemeanor property damage charge.
Police in a probable cause statement said Carter’s graffiti included racial slurs and “violent statements toward the African American community.”
The statement said Carter admitted to the offenses, saying he was tired of cleaning graffiti left by students.
Carter, who is white, told police he targeted the African American community because he believed the graffiti he cleaned up previously had been left by Black students.
The statement also says Carter wrote sexually explicit words in several foreign language classrooms and damaged custodial closets by pouring chemicals on items stored inside.
The statement said Carter said he had been bullied by African-American students when he was in high school and acknowledged he “holds a bias.”
“The offenses committed did not appear to be an impulsive act but deliberate, targeted actions motivated by racial bias,” St. Charles County Police Officer Brian Adelsberger said in the probable cause statement.
“Per school administrators, the statements caused widespread fear and disruption within the school community.”
Discovery of the racist graffiti at the school, at 7001 Highway 94, had spurred the president of the St. Charles County NAACP last week to demand that Francis Howell School District officials implement “long-overdue” anti-racism education, training and “accountability measures.”
The district last week said the graffiti was written in black dry-erase marker. Photos of the graffiti that circulated on social media last week showed racial slurs threatening the killing or rape of Black people.
Carter was being held Wednesday in the St. Charles County Jail, with bond set at $50,000.
Francis Howell officials said Carter has been placed on leave in accordance with district policy.
Mark Delaney, the district’s interim superintendent, in a statement apologized for the incident and the effect it has had on students and employees at the school “and the broader Francis Howell community.”
“All students and staff deserve to feel safe and welcome at school,” he said. “You have my commitment that we will continue our efforts to create safe and welcoming learning environments for all students.”
The St. Charles County NAACP, in a statement Wednesday, said the incident was not an isolated act “but part of a troubling pattern of racism and insufficient response” within the Howell district.
Among other things, the NAACP called for anti-bias training, training staff on how to respond to hate crimes, expanding mental health supports and clarifying reporting procedures for students and staffers.
The NAACP also called on the district to “strengthen hiring practices” to ensure that educators and other staffers are thoroughly screened and “equipped to support students and families of all backgrounds and identities.”
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Mark Schlinkmann | Post-Dispatch
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