By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Surveillance video of a person defacing the Nihonmachi Alley mural has been released by King5.
The footage shows a person with black around their eyes smearing paint on the mural at 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 18. The vandalism was discovered on Jan. 20, and was originally believed to have occurred between Jan. 19 and Jan. 20.
Courtesy of Jeff Liang.
Many in the community believe it to be a hate crime. When the Northwest Asian Weekly spoke with Jeff Liang, the interim executive director at the CIDBA, he said that it felt “targeted” and “like a gutpunch.”
Since November, there has been a recent increase in violent crimes in and around the Chinatown-International District (CID)—specifically, stabbings—and some concern within the community that those crimes are targeted hate crimes.
Seattle police are not currently investigating the incident as a hate crime, and no suspects have currently been identified.