'I never thought something like this would happen to me': Racist graffiti stuns Mississippi restaurant owner

A popular black-owned restaurant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was vandalized late Sunday or early Monday with a racial slur and messages telling the owners to leave.

Owner Vikki Layne Terrell of the restaurant bearing her name – Vikki Layne's Bar and Grill – said the incident happened after she locked up around 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

"I don’t know why anyone would do this,” she said. "I should not walk into the women's room and see racial slurs on the walls."

Tables were overturned in the dining room and kitchen, and equipment was damaged, but the worst damage was in the bathrooms. Vandals wrote the N-word on a mirror and spray-painted “Get out” and “You not welcome” on the walls.

Police were at the scene on Monday afternoon looking at the damage and reviewing video footage from a nearby surveillance camera. No suspect or suspects have been identified. 

Terrell moved her restaurant to its location in downtown Hattiesburg  less than a year ago.

She said she never had any problems until she moved downtown. Since then, Terrell said she has had problems with people making racist comments, like one white customer who asked not to be seated next to black customers or children or another white customer who asked to be served by a white waitress.

"People are blatant at some of the things I go through here," she said. "I never thought something like this would happen to me," she said. "This is 2019. This is Hattiesburg."

Still, Terrell has no plans to move.

"And I'll be in this building for years to come," she said. "They should have at least waited until I was tired. You just gave me my second wind. Now I can't dare let you make me move. I can't dare let you make me get out.

"This is just a bump in the road, and it's not even a big bump." 

Terrell said she should not have to leave the downtown area just because she is black.

"Where else am I supposed to go?" she asked. "I was born and raised here. My parents were born and raised here."

Hattiesburg Police Department spokesman Ryan Moore said the incident remains under investigation.