Police are searching for a man who vandalized the Minado Buffet in Yakima, Washington.
The buffet’s security cameras recorded a man wearing a black hood and gloves spray painting a racist message about the coronavirus on the building around 3:30 a.m. last Saturday, according to Yakima Herald. Minado Buffet owners Tony Yan and Lisa Li called the police around 12:45 p.m.
“Take the corona back, you [ethnic slur],” the graffiti reportedly said.
Yakima Police Capt. Jay Seely said the slur referred to people of Chinese descent, according to KAPP-TV. He said that police are investigating the incident as potential malicious harassment.
Minado Buffet serves a variety of Asian cuisines. It opened last October, but has been closed since March 17 in compliance with Governor Jay Inslee’s state-wide restaurant shut down.
City officials have condemned the racist vandalism and are urging communities to support one another during the pandemic.
“Vandalism of any kind, especially vandalism that is targeted toward a specific ethnic group, is contrary to the values of the Yakima community,” Yakima Mayor Patricia Byers said in a news release Tuesday “It is critical during the current public health emergency that our community bands together.”
Li told Yakima Herald that the support they’ve seen from the officials and from the Yakima community on social media has been encouraging.
“That even makes us feel safer,” Li said.
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