Community rallies behind hate crime victims and cleans the home

After Cape Coral homeowners fell victim to vandals who destroyed their home with racist and hateful slurs, the community is rallying together to get the home back to its original state.

WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.

RELATED: Cape Coral home vandalized; homeowner calls it a “hate crime”

On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore met with the victim and homeowner, Dr. Peter Ndiangui, to discuss the incident. Chief Sizemore vowed to find the suspects.

• RELATED: Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident

On Saturday, cars lined the streets of a Cape Coral neighborhood as over 50 people gathered at the FGCU professor’s home.

“We must always see moments like this to say we are better than this and we are stronger together,” Ndiangui said to the cleaning group.

Ndiangui and his wife returned to their investment home that’s under construction to find racial slurs.

“It was hard on us after a few months of working almost day and night on it. But this will not stop us. We will make it better. We will rebuild and we will make it better,” said Haytham Mahmoud, the contractor of the home. Mahmoud, who is also an FGU professor, discovered the crime.

“Whoever did it, they have given us more strength, showed us how good the community is and destruction is just momentary, but rebuilding is all the pleasure,” Mahmoud said.

Once the news spread, the community rallied behind the couple and vowed to clean their home up. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon.

“We were all in disbelief. We looked at the photos, and we said, this can’t be the end of the story,” Jessica Essary said.

Essary, also an FGCU professor, planned the cleanup.

“There’s no room for slacktivism. We have to take activism and we have to teach our children that this is how they change the world,” Essary said.

Different ages, different backgrounds and different fields of work all came together as one. People got on their hands and knees, scrubbing paint, sweeping glass and turning the home spotless.

Dozens of FGCU faculty joined in as well.

“It’s nice to come out and see all of our colleagues, right, and to be together in a time of crisis and to just spend some time together,” Derek Lura, an FGCU Professor said.

Lura helped author a FGCU faculty resolution, in support of Ndiangui.

“We want to make sure that it’s being prosecuted and treated with the seriousness that it deserves,” Lura said.

FGCU students and alumni also joined the cleanup. Some said they hated that their favorite professor was a victim of a hate crime. Others say, they didn’t even have Ndiangui as a professor and simply wanted to pitch in and help.

“The news article was sent to us through FGCU, and I was just appalled by what it said,” said Olivia Acton, a student at FGCU.

“I think being here really shows that this is something this community won’t stand for,” said Kelly Dauphinais, who is one of Ndiangui’s students.

“I think it’s really important to show up and show out, and love is always gonna win over hate,” said FGCU student Waverley Walthall.

“We’re simply turning a negative into a positive. Rather than just hating the person who did this, we’re deciding to come out here and clean up the mess that they made,” said Nick Maas, a student of Ndiangui.

Cape Coral Police Chief Sizemore and several Cape Police officers were also in attendance.

“When our officers heard about this, they were really disturbed and distraught, and they wanted to figure out a way to help out. Peter is a long-standing friend of the police department, so they were really excited to volunteer today, to come on board and help everybody else that’s here, just to jump in and get things cleaned up for Peter,” Officer Mercedes Simonds from the Cape Coral Police Public Affairs Office said.

No more racial slurs remain on the walls. Dozens told WINK News on Saturday that they are determined to change the narrative. Something filled with so much hate will now be remembered with so much love.

“All this done, that has saved us a lot of money, that has saved us a lot of headaches, that has saved us time,” Peter Ndiangui said.

“I was very emotional to see the work that was going on. Everybody was very busy helping out, and the turnout was excellent, and the outcome is so awesome. You don’t see any more paint on the floors,” Priscilla Ndiangui said.

“I’ve been like crying almost when I get to this house, every time I come in here. Now, I look at it. No more red, no more mess. It’s all gone because the community came together. Thank you so much,” Peter Ndiangui said.

Coming together to fight hate, and winning.

The people responsible have not been caught yet, but surveillance video shows there are three to four suspects. They committed the crime on Nov. 9 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m..

If you have any information regarding this case, contact the Cape Coral Police Department at 239-574-3223.