Racial slur painted on Palm Bay City Council candidate's campaign yard sign

Rick Neale | Florida Today

Show Caption Hide Caption Meet the candidates for Palm Bay City Council Thomas Gaume, Tres Holton and Kenny Johnson talk politics with FLORIDA TODAY's Isadora Rangel and Bob Gabordi.

A vandal spray-painted a racial slur on one of Palm Bay City Council candidate Kenny Johnson's campaign yard signs near the intersection of Minton Road and Jupiter Boulevard.

Councilman Brian Anderson spotted the defaced sign while driving past about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, called Johnson, and showed him the racist graffiti during a Facebook video call.

"I was immediately upset," Johnson said. "I got over it, but then I became upset again because I knew my parents were going to find out about it — and I knew they were going to be hurt that somebody said that about their son."

To see a photo of the racial slur: Click on this link

Johnson's campaign manager reported the vandalism to Palm Bay police on Friday morning.

Johnson is running for Seat 4, facing incumbent Deputy Mayor Tres Holton and fellow challenger Thomas Gaume on the primary ballot.

More: Road repair dominates Palm Bay City Council Seat 4 candidate forum at FLORIDA TODAY

More: Meet the candidates running for Palm Bay City Council Seat 4

"We can talk about roads, stormwater and everything. But there still is a deep-rooted problem within our society," Johnson said of the racist graffiti.

"It's slowly going away, but it's still there. But I refuse to respond to any of this, because love's going to conquer all," he said.

"Whether it's campaign affiliation, political party, all these different barriers we create, we need to break them down," he said.

Anderson said he noticed the sullied sign while driving past on Minton Road, then turned his car around and stopped. After he notified Johnson, he removed the sign and placed it in his trunk.

"He was taken aback, at a loss for words. I told him, 'This isn't right,'" Anderson said.

"There's no place for this. Politics is what it is, and it's not the nicest game in the world. But there's no place for this," he said.

Neale is South Brevard watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638

or rneale@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @RickNeale1

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