Black suspect commits possible race hoax — then allegedly grabs a gun

A black teen in North Carolina has allegedly terrorized his community in more ways than one in just the past couple of weeks.

On May 2, Taquon Jameek Vereen, 18, was arrested after police in Fayetteville received reports of a suspect spray-painting a swastika on a building. A social media video also suggested a suspect was spray-painting swastikas on other properties as well, police said.

The Observer made no mention of Vereen’s race.

Officers identified Vereen as the suspect and took him into custody without incident. He was charged with two counts of damage to real property and one count of second-degree trespassing, police said.

Court documents revealed that Vereen is accused of spray-painting swastikas on public property — “two stop signs and one traffic light control box” — as well as on the side of a convenience store from which Vereen had been banned back in April.

The Fayetteville Police Department statement described Vereen as a “black male, 18 years of age.”

In its report about the incident, the Fayetteville Observer specifically noted that swastikas are “widely recognized as symbols of hate” that are “commonly associated with Nazi ideology and white supremacist groups.” However, the Observer made no mention of Vereen’s race.

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Photo of swastika graffiti in Brooklyn in March 2026 by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images

Vereen posted bond on May 6 in connection with the swastika case, court records showed. Just six days later though, he was back in custody, this time in connection with an even more serious incident.

On Tuesday, Vereen was arrested after he was “walking down the roadway pointing a handgun at bystanders and passing vehicles,” police claimed, citing witness statements.

When cops arrived at the intersection in question, located about a half-mile from the swastika-tagged convenience store, they spotted the suspect, who immediately attempted to flee on foot. He was quickly apprehended and identified as Vereen.

A handgun was recovered at the scene, police said.

Vereen was charged with going armed to the terror of people and assault by pointing a gun. As of Thursday morning, he is not listed among the inmates at the Cumberland County Detention Center website, but a representative at the jail confirmed to Blaze News that Vereen remains in custody and has a hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

A public defender for Vereen did not respond to a request for comment.

H/T: Stephen Horn

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