SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio restaurant Noodle Tree tagged with racist, anti-Asian graffiti posted to Facebook to let the community know they will not be opening until early April.
The post says, "Due to the recent events, it's been tough mentally and emotionally on myself and the staff, so we're going to be closed for the rest of the week for some emotional recovery."
The post continues with, "We'll be back open for business on Thursday, April 8th. Stay safe and can't wait to see you then! Hook 'em!"
Owner Mike Nguyen said since the attack in early March, he's received even more violent threats.
The incident was investigated as a hate crime by San Antonio Police. When Nguyen showed up to Noodle Tree, hate greeted him. There was red graffiti with messages: 'Go back to China' and 'No Masks' covered the eatery.
"We have a couple of bad seeds out there," he said. "Maybe there not from San Antonio. We don't know."
The attack happened days after Nguyen appeared on CNN criticizing the ending of the statewide mask mandate. However, immediately after the hate it turned to love. Heartfelt messages began filling the doors. But, while he is receiving community support, the owner said the violent threats increased since the vandalism.
"I am getting calls where people want to find out where I live, and burn down my house, and burn down this building," the owner said.
He told KENS 5 mid-March that the threats have him on edge for his own safety and his staff's. He said there are also rumors the vandalism was staged.
"They are making assumptions this is some kind of inside job, that myself or my staff had something to do with this," he said. "That is absurd."
According to a police report, when asked if he had cameras or any video surveillance, he said that the business does have cameras, but the recent storms damaged them or knocked them off line to where they can no longer record. No other cameras were seen on the outside of the property.
See the full Facebook post here.
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