You'll Never Guess Who Is the Police's Prime Suspect in Racist ‘Hate Crime’ Against Half-Black Eighth-Grade Football Player

Investigators looking into an alleged racist hate crime aimed at an eight-grade football player in Lunenburg, Mass., reportedly have just one suspect -- the boy's mother.

Media outlets ran with the story after the racist spray-painted message, "Knights don't need n***ers," was found written on the side of football player Isaac Phillips home. His mother, Andrea Brazier, blamed her half-black son's teammates for the racist "hate crime."

The Blue Knights football team reportedly cancelled the remainder of their games in response to the allegations.

Screengrab via the Daily Mail

However, the Daily Mail reports that police are no longer looking at the football team as suspects and are focusing only on Phillips' mother.

The Boston Herald has details on an affidavit relating to the case:

Investigators seized two cans of spray paint from the home, court papers say, along with one live round of 12-gauge ammunition and four live rounds of 20-gauge ammunition.

[…]

Lunenburg Police Detective Jeffrey Thibodeau writes that Brazier changed her story about when her 6-year-old daughter saw a suspicious person outside the house, first saying it was Nov. 14, then saying in a separate interview it was Nov. 4. Brazier told cops in both interviews that the little girl had spotted someone wearing “a feather head dress” and said in the first interview “that she was not sure if her daughter was making this up or not.”

Brazier also blew off an appointment with investigators on Nov. 22, where she was to make a written statement. Brazier called police that night “and stated she was busy running errands for a birthday party.”

When she met with cops the next day — including an FBI agent and polygrapher — Brazier “started the conversation by saying she was done with the whole incident,” the court papers state.

Brazier also responded "OK" when an FBI agent told her she wanted the investigation to stop because she was the one who spray painted the graffiti on the house. She did say that her husband and son had nothing to do with the incident.

The mother reputedly left the police station in tears.

Screengrab via the Daily Mail

Screengrab via the Daily Mail

FBI agents also found two burnt aerosol cans in an outdoor pit when they visited to examine the graffiti. When confronted, Brazier's husband, Anthony Phillips, first said they were spray paint cans he used to renovate their living room, then that he used them on a construction job, and finally he claimed they were flex-seal cans he used to fix the gutters, the affidavit reveals.

Despite her vocal desire to conclude the investigation, police informed the mother that they will keep going "until we uncovered the truth."

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