Police: N-Word Spray-Painted On LeBron James' LA Home
LOS ANGELES (CBSNewYork/AP) — Police are investigating after someone spray-painted a racial slur on the front gate of LeBron James' home in Los Angeles on the eve of the NBA Finals.
It happened Wednesday morning in Brentwood.
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Capt. Patricia Sandoval, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman, said James wasn't at the home at the time. TMZ reported that it doesn't appear to live at the home, which he purchased in 2015 for $20.9 million, on any regular basis.
She said the property manager told officers they believe the incident was captured on surveillance video.
Sandoval said an unidentified person spray-painted the N-word on the front gate. Police are investigating it as an act of vandalism and possible hate crime.
She said someone painted over the slur before officers arrived.
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James told reporters Wednesday that the incident shows that "racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America."
"Hate in America, especially for African-Americans, is living every day," he said.
"No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America, it's tough, and we've got a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African-Americans until we feel equal in America."
James and the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Golden State Warriors in NBA Finals beginning Thursday night, with Game 1 in Oakland.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
