'Suspicious' Fire Forces Obama Supporter To Cancel D.C. Trip
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mon Jan 19, 2009
Category: U.S. News
Area: Atlanta
CUMMING, Georgia - A Forsyth County woman has canceled plans to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama and returned from Washington to check on a fire that destroyed her home.
The fire, which was reported at 4:30 a.m. Sunday at the home of Pamela Graf in Cumming, is classified as "suspicious" and a possible case of "terroristic threats and acts," said Steve Anderson, chief of investigations for the Forsyth County Fire Department.
Graffiti sprayed on a fence near the home said "your black boy will die."
Anderson said early Tuesday that investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire at the 2,900-square-foot home on Lanier Drive.
"Any time you have a fire where no one is home or one that has such a headstart, you have to look at it as suspicious," he said.
He declined to discuss the graffitti, saying "We don't really know who the grafitti was directed to or what the meaning was."
Graf could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning. But Anderson said she is back in town.
The Gainesville Times has quoted her father, William Morrow, as saying he believes Graf was targeted for her political views.
Morrow said Graf had two Obama campaign signs in her yard before the fire, but removed one after receiving a negative letter about a week ago.
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