(ABC 6 News-) “Love wins.” That’s the hopeful message plastered in a temporary mural in the fencing above a pedestrian bridge in Rochester the week after it was defaced with a racist slur.

“People have been killed because of those words,” said Wale Elegbede, President of the Rochester branch of the NAACP. “People have been lynched because of those words, and [the vandalism] was something that our black community and the NAACP could never let stand.” 

Earlier this week, the NAACP hosted a community town hall in response to the incident. Another meeting, with the goal of “uplifting student voices” is planned for April 22nd at the Willow Creek school auditorium, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

“Sadly this issue is happening every single day,” said Heaven Aschalew, a student at the University of Minnesota, Rochester, “…but when we come together as a community and talk about it, there’s power in that.” 

The vandalism remains under investigation, but Rochester police say it’s unlikely there will be footage of the bridge being vandalized, as there is no camera in the area.