Edmonds Business Owner Targeted Over His Ethnicity, He Says

EDMONDS, WA — Edmonds police are investigating a possible hate crime after a city business owner found graffiti on his store inferring that he should go back to where he came from.

On May 28, the business owner called 911 to report that the phrase "go bac" (the phrase was misspelled) had been scrawled on his convenience store, located just south of the Edmonds Heights school at 100th Avenue West and 228th Street Southwest.

The business owner told police he thought the graffiti was targeting his ethnicity. According to Edmonds police, neighbors were upset at the business owner because he is planning to add a U-Haul truck rental service.

"Although the graffiti did not specifically draw attention to the business owner’s ethnicity, the inference could be made that he was targeted because of that. As such, the case is under investigation to determine if the crime qualifies as malicious harassment under Washington state law, and ultimately locate a suspect," police said in a statement.

Police do have a person of interest in mind. They say a white man, age 40 to 50, went to the business on May 27 to express "dissatisfaction" over the U-Haul plan. He is between 5'8" and 5'10" with sandy hair and a medium build. He was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, and left the business on foot heading north. Police are only looking to speak to the person at this time.