Monterey community reacts to hateful message, police investigating
MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV)- Disturbing anti-semitic message written on a Monterey building at the intersection of Alvarado Street and Del Monte.
Monterey Police are working to find video to help identify a suspect. Several people who lived in Monterey told KION that this kind of hateful messaging is heartbreaking.
Abdallah Manaseer and his have owned this restaurant for almost a year and a half on Alvarado Street. Manaseer said it’s a safe neighborhood.
“It's a safe community all together,” said Manaseer. “It's a great town to be in.”
When he heard about this hateful writing on a neighboring building, it shocked him. His restaurant is right around the corner from where it happened.
“It's unfortunate that it happened here,” said Manaseer. “It's shocking to see that happening right next to us.”
Monterey Police said someone found the graffiti on Sunday and posted it on social media, where it started to gain attention. The post was then emailed to the police.
“Right now it's an open investigation,” said Lt. Jake Pinkas with the Monterey Police Department. “After gathering video footage, we are working to determine if we have any suspects.”
“Monterey does a really good job of working with property and business owners to get graffiti cleaned up so it doesn't expand and grow,” said Pinkas. “This is the first time where hate speech was involved.”
Newly elected Monterey mayor Tyller Williamson said that kind of message has no place in the community.
“Clearly these behaviors are inappropriate and we are not going to accept this behavior within our community,” said Williamson. “It's unacceptable and it causes great harm. We just want to make sure that people feel welcomed and accepted in our community.”
“We shouldn't spotlight it as much just so that the person who did it or people who support this kind of stuff don't feel victorious,” said Manaseer.
Monterey Police believe what happened is an isolated incident.
Police said if they find the suspect, they plan to take this case to the DA's office for prosecution.
