BELMONT, N.C. — Doc’s Basement Comics, Toys & Games store owner Sam Wilcox II - or Doc as he is known - has seen firsthand that not all heroes wear capes. Like the ones that come to life in the comic book stories he sells.
“To my surprise and to my joy, the community was not having any of that,” said Wilcox.
Police say a racial slur was painted on a comic book store by a group of juveniles.
The racial slur was written on the wall of the store on East Catawba Street in Belmont. Several other businesses were vandalized on the street as well, according to the Belmont Police Department.
Police identified three juveniles as the suspects in the vandalism. Juvenile petitions will be obtained for them on Tuesday.
The wall once covered by a word designed to divide us was cleaned up by the community coming together with a stronger message.
Nick Hohn with Glossy Mobile Detail lives Belmont. He jumped into action to fight against the hate.
“It took some chemicals, some pressure washing, some scrubbing but it came off,” he said. “It’s just the right thing to do as a community. There is no sense in anything like this ever happening anywhere, no matter if it is here, or anywhere in the country. And I’m not going to tolerate it."
Officers also worked to remove the paint on Monday.
"While any form of vandalism will not be tolerated, we were especially disheartened to see this level of disrespect," Belmont Police wrote on social media.
Before the suspects were identified, the store's social media page featured a post about the vandalism expressing disappointment in the situation. They were teens Wilcox said were in and out of his store that day. He even offered them free items.
"It's more of the children part that is disturbing or bothering me," said Wilcox on Tuesday. “So, they were doing whatever vandalism, painting, and coming up here to clean themselves up and interacting with me the whole time.”
Wilcox felt his kindness was taken for granted.
“That word is a horrible word, it comes from hate, it comes from ignorance,” he said. “I want to understand why you would write something like that, direct to me when I was nothing but good to you.”
The brick wall is now all cleaned up and Wilcox is getting an outpouring level of support from his community coming together to say that word will not be accepted.
After the suspects were identified, the store posted again on social media thanking the police for their help. Wilcox said he would have liked for the teens to have been part of the cleanup as part of a lesson for them, but he "was not going to fight the wave of love coming my way.”
“Belmont is always going to be quick to step up and take care of each other, always,” said neighbor Christina Pickens.
“For most people in Belmont it’s not tolerated,” said Ethan Howes. “We don’t see any reason to do something like this. We see everyone as family.”
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.