Racist Gang-Style Graffiti Found at High School Gym
A vandal used a marker over the weekend to scribble gang-style graffiti on the entrance to the gym at Buena High School in Ventura.
The markings, which probably were made Saturday night by someone with a blue, wide-tip pen, included Nazi symbols as well as language defamatory to blacks. The gym entrance and a nearby concession stand were hardest hit, Principal Jaime Castellanos said.
“We hadn’t had any graffiti in a long time,” said Castellanos, who was made aware of the damage Sunday afternoon. “This is typical while students are on vacation. They have nothing else to do,” he said.
Ventura Police Cpl. Mike Foster said the markings looked similar to those of a gang that used to operate in east Ventura.
But whether or not members of that gang were responsible for this incident is difficult to determine, Foster said, because gangs have been known to use graffiti associated with other gangs.
Castellanos said that with the school closed for Christmas break, having face-to-face meetings with students who might have information about the graffiti will be difficult.
A crew was expected to clean up the graffiti this morning, just in time for a basketball tournament, Castellanos said.
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