It isn't a freedom of speech issue.
It would be if we had a constitutional government.
{Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. }
You see Rati, when this was a free nation, governed by the rule of law, the constitution was supreme. The bill of rights was the final word on what could be infringed. No judge could piss on the constitution and put people in prison for writing words he found offensive.
If a crime is not involved it couldn't be prosecuted as a hate crime. In this instance, a crime was involved: vandalism.
The idea that a word can be written, and that word is the greater crime of a vandal is something only a thug would defend.
Back when we had civil rights, this would be unheard of.
The idiot could have yelled "KKK" and "******" to his heart's content.
He would have gone to prison. You would have cited noise ordinances and attached illegal word status.
{"The First Amendment really was designed to protect a debate at the fringes. You don't need the courts to protect speech that everybody agrees with, because that speech will be tolerated. You need a First Amendment to protect speech that people regard as intolerable or outrageous or offensive because that is when the majority will wield its power to censor or suppress, and we have a First Amendment to prevent the government from doing that.}
Protecting Outrageous, Offensive Speech
You of the left hate liberty and work hard to destroy it.