Chapel Hill Courthouse Vandalized; DA's Office Calls It 'Despicable'

The Chapel Hill Courthouse and post office on East Franklin Street was vandalized on Saturday night, as shared by the Orange County district attorney’s office.

The historic building was found defaced with Spray-painted messages with anti-police sentiments, according to a release on Monday morning from the office of Jeff Nieman. An activist group hosted a demonstration at the Peace & Justice Plaza — which is in front of the courthouse at 179 East Franklin Street — at 9 p.m. on Saturday. According to a Chapel Hill Police spokesperson, when the group began marching down Franklin Street and around the block around 9:45 p.m., the building was vandalized. The messages include phrases like “Kill Cops,” “Burn the Prisons,” and “Jihad Now.”

Nieman, who is also the district attorney for Chatham County, called the vandalism “despicable” in his office’s release.

“Calls for violence and murder have no place in this community, and we should all denounce it in the strongest possible terms,” he said. “Law enforcement officers’ risk their lives every day to keep all of us safe, including the individuals at this rally and those who spray-painted these hateful messages. I only hope those responsible can be identified so they can be held accountable in court. I encourage anyone with information about the perpetrators to contact their local law enforcement agency.”

The Peace and Justice Plaza is often a site for public demonstrations, with the area in front of the courthouse and post office dedicated as a space honoring those who have used their First Amendment rights through protest. The event was shared on Instagram by a group called Triangle Stop Cop City, which describes itself as “a submission-based platform reposting autonomous events fighting for a world without police, prisons, states, colonization or white supremacy.” The account has recently shared other posts of vandalism in the area, like anti-police and anti-prison messages spray-painted in Durham, but it is unclear the extent to which Triangle Stop Cop City took part in Saturday’s demonstration and the subsequent defacing of the courthouse.

Chapel Hill Police have made no arrests in the case as of Monday morning, according to the department spokesperson. The town government’s crews are working to remove the spray paint from the building’s pillars, but are moving with caution to not damage its architecture which just went through renovation in 2023. That included covering up the columns with temporary tarps and repainting the entrance doors.

The Chapel Hill Courthouse and post office on East Franklin Street on August 27.

The courthouse and post office opened and operated at their normal hours on Monday despite the vandalism, according to the town government.

Featured photos via the Office of North Carolina Prosecutorial District 18.

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Chapel Hill Courthouse Vandalized; DA’s Office Calls It ‘Despicable’

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