Police Friday announced an arrest in the vandalism of a Vietnamese coffee shop in Kansas City, MO.
It’s the third time the Café Cà Phê has been targeted, the latest just hours after Donald Trump was officially declared the winner in the presidential election.
Owner Jackie Nguyen has been an outspoken advocate in the stop Asian hate movement and suspects her business was targeted because its Asian-owned.
“There was no intent to steal, which actually feels more heartbreaking to me than anything,” Nguyen said to the Kansas City Star.
Two earlier incidents at her shop involved a burglary.
Police who have not identified the suspect arrested say they are now investigating whether that person may be connected to other crimes. However, they say they have no evidence this is a hate crime.
“We do not have anything to indicate as such at this point,” said Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokesperson with the Kansas City Police Department.
The shop shared photos of the damage on Facebook.
Since the incidents, patrons have donated more than $2,000 to cover the cost of the damage.
“This community is unstoppable, and I’m very, very, very grateful for the community,” Nguyen said. “It’s an exchange. Our community shows up just as much as we show up for them, and we know that, they know that.”
Support our June Membership Drive and receive member-only benefits. With less than four days left in our fundraising drive, we are running out of time. We are just 51% of our goal of $10,000 in new donations and monthly and annual donation pledges and 44% of our goal of gaining 25 new recurring donors by the end of the month. We need your help during these challenging times. Please help to ensure quality content in amplifying the voices of the AAPI community.
We are published by the non-profit Asian American Media Inc and supported by our readers along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, Report for America/GroundTruth Project & Koo and Patricia Yuen of the Yuen Foundation.
You can make your tax-deductible donations here via credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo. Stock donations and donations via DAFs are also welcomed. Contact us at info @ asamnews dot com for more info.
