A star football player in Texas has unenrolled from his school after his family's home was targeted by racist vandals.
KDFW-TV reported that junior quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr. and his younger brother are no longer enrolled in Allen ISD. Hawkins Jr.'s father is former NFL player Mike Hawkins Sr.
On Dec. 28, the family discovered that someone had spray-painted a racial epithet against people who are Black on their garage.
Allen police are investigating the hate crime.
Hawkins Jr. was the starting quarterback for Allen High School's powerhouse football team, and he's heavily recruited, KDFW-TV reported. Dave Campbell's Texas Football lists the junior as a four-star recruit, ranking him third in his position. He has scholarship offers from Alabama, Oklahoma, TCU, Arkansas, Michigan and others.
The incident prompted Hawkins Sr. to pull his children out of Allen ISD.
"They told me something happened in the garage of one of my neighbors and if I had a security camera back there or if I had seen or heard anything," said neighbor Cameron Keathley.
The Hawkins home was listed for sale weeks before the incident happened. KDFW-TV spoke to Hawkins off-camera at the home Friday. The station reported that Hawkins said he had no comment.
"All my neighbors here, they know him. I have only heard good things about him," Keathley said. "I can’t imagine someone from around here would do that. I think it would have to be because he’s the quarterback. He is well known. Someone is trying to get under his skin."
In a statement to KDFW-TV, Allen ISD officials said: "We are saddened to learn that a family’s home was vandalized with hate speech. Any instance of hate speech, no matter where or how it occurs, goes against the core beliefs of our school district, and it has no place in our community."
Hawkins Sr. told the Dallas Morning News "the first thing that comes to your mind is getting your kids to safety."
According to the report, his wife Anabelle Hawkins said she gets "nervous to go outside."
"I’ve walked around this community. It’s pretty diverse," Keathley said. "So it kind of surprises me that someone would do it at all, have it in their mind. I think it has to be someone who is not from around here."
Allen police told KDFW-TV that the investigation is ongoing.
