CHARGES FILED FOR RACIST GRAFFITI.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Terrorism charges were filed Thursday against a Valencia teen who admitted scrawling racist messages on restroom walls at College of the Canyons.

David Frucht, 19, who faces two counts, was arrested Thursday afternoon by Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies.

The teen admitted he was responsible for the graffiti and its derogatory messages toward Latinos and African-Americans, after campus security guards detained him Feb. 2.

The guards had been on the lookout for the culprit who had spread graffiti with a black marker in a restroom at the college Jan. 27, sheriff's officials said.

Frucht was detained after he left a restroom that was free of graffiti before he entered it Feb. 2.

On both dates, authorities found a drawing of a Confederate flag along with comments such as ``the South will rise again'' as well as racial slurs.

The teen told investigators that he and his friends were upset by efforts to remove the Confederate flag from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, where the 2000 Super Bowl was played.

The teen, who has no prior arrests, told deputies he wasn't a racist, but admitted to doing something that was ``just stupid.''

Students at the college said they were surprised by the incident.

``It's strange it happened here because everyone here is really friendly and there are a lot of different races,'' said 19-year-old video and film production student Erick Carrerro.

Other students agreed.

``It happens everywhere, but I wasn't thinking it would happen here because everyone is so intertwined,'' added Jennifer Zelaya, 19, a communications major.