DA: Racist graffiti on historic black school no hate crime
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office says five teenagers have been charged with spray-painting racist graffiti on a 19th century schoolhouse that once served black children in northern Virginia.
The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/2eeFEEx ) reported Friday that the four 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old were charged this week with felony destruction of property, among other offenses, after a review by prosecutors found the case does not qualify as a hate crime.
The graffiti included swastikas and references to "white power."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Students at the nearby Loudoun School for the Gifted have been working to restore the former Ashburn Colored School so that the one-room schoolhouse can be opened to the public as a museum. It served African-Americans banned in 1892 from attending school with white people, and remained open until the late 1950s.