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A Maryland man has been charged with a hate crime after allegedly spray-painting the exterior of two public libraries with the word “groomer,” which officials say they believe was meant to be used as a homophobic slur.
Charles Sutherland, 30, was arrested Thursday on charges of vandalism of the Greenbelt Branch Library and the New Carrollton Branch Library on June 4 and June 9, respectively. Both buildings were spray-painted with the word “groomer” in giant yellow letters on the outside windows.
Sutherland was charged with two counts of malicious destruction of property and multiple hate crimes related to defacing the building. He has confessed to the incidents, according to the Prince George’s County Police. It’s not entirely clear when he’ll face trial as court records on the incident have not yet been updated online.
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The term groomer refers to someone who creates and maintains a relationship with a young child so they can “manipulate, exploit and abuse them,” according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The word has typically been used to describe the behavior of convicted sex offenders, but it has entered the mainstream as a slur against LGBT people.
groomer vandalism .png“Groomer” insults targeting LGBT activists have increased online over the last few months. Posts including the slur on Reddit have increased 100% since the beginning of the year, according to a study by an assistant professor of computer science at Binghamton University in New York.
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“The majority of subreddits that are adopting the rhetoric have a pretty long history of content moderation concerns and are definitely not what I would consider LGBTQ-friendly,” Jeremy Blackburn, who specializes in online extremism, told NBC News. “While it is not exactly surprising to me that this rhetoric has been adopted, I am somewhat surprised the rhetoric was so quickly adopted.”
