INDIANAPOLIS — On Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the official end of slavery in the United States, someone noticed a burned cross in the grass on the front lawn of Indiana Black Expo headquarters on North Shortridge Road.
“When I drove in today, I said, ‘Why is the grass dying right there?’” IBE Director of Finance Terri Faulker asked herself.
When she got closer, though, Faulker said she knew exactly what she was seeing.
“It’s a chemically burnt cross in our yard,” said Faulker, explaining it appeared someone had used some kind of chemical to kill the grass on the lawn in the shape of a cross.
In a state with a history of cross burnings in the yards of Black people by the Ku Klux Klan, Faulker's suspicions were raised.
“Get out of here, basically,” said Faulker, explaining that IBE moved its offices to its new location from near downtown in October to expand programming.
“This was the perfect spot for us and we like our new home,” said Faulker, adding that they reported it to police and were waiting on investigators to come out and take a look.
But there may be a innocent explanation for the dead grass.
Saturday, after 13News initially reported IBE's concern, they provided an updated statement to us:
"Yesterday, our staff noticed what appears to be a chemical burn on the grass in front of our building in the shape of a cross. It was reported to IMPD and we are awaiting the results of an official investigation.
Our building is the former home of The Crossroads Bible College, and at one point, they did have a concrete cross embedded in this area. It was removed in 2017 and the area where the cross had been was filled with top soil and seed.
The area appears to have been recently burned with some form of chemical. IMPD has been contacted and we will await an investigation as to the cause of the burn. We do want to thank everyone in the community who has come forward to offer support."
Google Maps shows what appears to be dead grass in the shape of a cross in the same area.
IBE leaders are hoping that businesses in the area have cameras that might have captured recent video of the area.