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WEST JORDAN — A construction sign is at the center of a police investigation after the electronic sign was apparently hacked by vandals. The message it displayed on Monday left the city and residents horrified and feeling unsafe.
Cars pass by construction and cones on Copper Hills Parkway as workers make headway on a sewer project for the city of West Jordan.
Sometime after crews called it a night Monday, drivers noticed an electronic construction sign, usually warning of the project instead of displaying an offensive word in big, bright letters.
City of West Jordan public information manager Marie Magers explained that it appeared someone broke into the sign and changed it, "to show something that was extremely horrifying and racist."
One driver snapped a photo of the sign, showing the racial slur.
"Seeing the sign made me upset and angered that blatant racism is showing more rampant now than it has been before," said the driver, who is also a person of color. "I've lived in Utah for 15-plus years, and this is by far the worst thing I've seen since moving here."
That driver indicated they reached out to the city to get it taken down.
Magers explained that complaints came in overnight, and the independent contractor working on the project immediately fixed the sign early Tuesday before the morning commute.
The sign has since been removed as it is no longer needed on the project.
"It's important information for drivers, and for it to be tampered with is where it gets to be kind of serious," Magers said. "And for it to then become a racial slur is when it's unacceptable."
The driver who took the photo felt too unsafe to interview publicly but told KSL-TV they were hurt.
"I hope this exposure of blatant racism will wake up the state of Utah and see the problem I saw the other night," they said. "For my community of West Jordan, I know I don't speak for all, but I speak for a good majority of people of color who see something like that, and we don't feel safe. We are scared to do anything because of how much hate is just pouring out than what it used to be like."
Magers said the West Jordan Police Department is investigating, and the vandal or vandals could face criminal charges of vandalism and interfering with a traffic control device. She encouraged anyone who knows about the incident to call police.
The driver who saw the sign and felt targeted hopes the person responsible is held accountable.
"I'm hoping the traffic cams caught whoever did this, and they're reprimanded for their actions," the driver said. "This hurts because it's so close to home, and I feel unsafe knowing I'm now unwanted in the community I've lived in for so many years."
Magers hopes the city's message is stronger than the one they removed.
"We do not stand for any type of racism," she said. "It is not welcome here."
