NC State student’s car trashed in potentially racially motivated incident
The items left on his car were significant
After hanging out with friends on Sunday night, NCSU junior Elliott Holliday returned to his parked car at Wolf Village to find his vehicle covered with trash. Although there was no damage to his car, the items left indicated the incident could have been racially motivated.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Holliday wrote, “I am a College of Sciences Ambassador with a strong moral compass pointed towards selflessness and community service. I am a powerful African American man with the hopes of obtaining my PhD in a field of quantum physics, then pursing a career in research, renewable energy, and/or scientific outreach.
“Despite my resume, terrible things can still befall me. Today, January 22, 2017, at 1:30 AM, I was walking to my car at Wolf Village after hanging out with my friends. When I approached my car, I found it in more despicable state of cleanliness than I had left it.”
The items left on the roof of his car were an empty bottle of chocolate milk, an open bag of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, an afro pick and a box of Popeyes chicken.
Holliday told The Tab, “I want to have hope that this incident wasn’t racist, but instead was a group of young college kids like myself making ignorant decisions. However, I cannot and will not ignore the racial implications of their actions and I do acknowledge that this could be a racially motivated incident.”
As this incident occurred two days after the presidential inauguration, Holliday has connected this event with the election of President Donald Trump. He said, “I am trying my best not to play the racism card, but whoever did this is making it incredibly difficult.”
Holliday reported the incident to NC State University Police and university officials.
“NC State University, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO INGORE ME! I will scream about this so loudly God will tell me to lower my voice! You will listen when I speak, you will hear what I have to say, and you will take the appropriate course of action necessary to handle events like this,” he said in his Facebook post.
The police department is investigating the incident and NC State’s Bias Incident and Response Team has been notified.
At the time of publishing, Holliday’s post has over 200 shares and 100 comments.