Gary Fire Officials Investigating Blaze As Hate Crime

 Racism may have been the motive in a fire on Saturday in Gary's Black Oak neighborhood, according to published reports. A Habitat for Humanity home at 2411 Calhoun St. was extensively damaged by the fire, authorities told the Times of Northwest Indiana. A black family was scheduled to move into the house, which was valued at $95,000, next week, fire officials said. Authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime. The family was supposed to move into the house next week. "There were some issues as to why blacks got this home and whites didn't," said Gary Police Chief Garnett Anderson. "They built two Habitat For Humanity homes in this neighborhood. We'll investigate all that and see if we can come to the bottom of it." Kramer also reported that during the construction of the house, there was an incident where there was some racial graffiti and vandalism at the site. [more ]