Graffiti vandals target Herriman schools, churches

HERRIMAN — Someone spray-painted racial slurs, images of human anatomy and swastikas on several buildings this week, including Herriman High School, Copper Mountain Middle School and a seminary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Police are still searching for suspects. They believe the same person or people created all of the graffiti because of how close the buildings are to each other. Copper Mountain Middle and Herriman High connect behind each school.

Herriman Police Lt. Cody Stromberg thinks it’s probably teenagers trying to be funny or shocking.

“When you start to delve into racist slang and vulgar slurs … it’s just completely inappropriate and offensive,” Stromberg told KSL.

He also said that whoever spray-painted the graffiti may face a hate crime charge.

The vandal or vandals targeted the tennis court and softball field at Herriman High School as well as portable buildings on campus. They also hit the seminary building next to the high school with the graffiti as well as another church that is used by the middle school as a seminary building.

Utah lawmakers passed a new hate crimes law this year which allows prosecutors to add penalties if a suspect is proven to have targeted victims based on membership in a protected class. Those classes include ancestry, disability, gender identity, national origin, age, military service, race, religion or sexual orientation.