SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Police Department is investigating a recent string of graffiti messages stating “No more Chinese.” The vandalism has triggered social media discussions that indicate the graffiti is the development of an unfolding hate crime around the city.
The graffiti has been written in a signature orange color. According to SFPD Officer Grace Gatpandan, as of September 7, the graffiti has been reported in five separate locations within the Portola neighborhood and Bayview Districts appearing on fences, in public playgrounds, on sidewalks and sides of buildings.
Local resident Vickie Chau first posted a photo of the vandalism in a public park on September 6, and captioned the post: “My dad found this in our neighborhood on the way to McLaren Park. On University St. between Bacon & Wayland in San Francisco. SOCIAL MEDIA WORK YOUR MAGIC.” The post has since been shared over 1,800 times as of September 8.
Chau commented in an interview with KPIX-TV that she soon discovered this was not an isolated incident when other neighbors began posting pictures of other tags in the Portola neighborhood. Chau also mentioned that based on the messages she’s received, the general community seems to be supportive and want to find the culprit(s).
The images have also been posted onto the “Angry Asian Man” blog site, which has since gone viral since its initial post on September 7.
Photo courtesy of Angry Asian Man @angryasianman via Twitter
Some San Francisco residents have taken matters into their own hands and crossed out the “NO” on some tags, and left “MORE CHINESE” in an effort to counter the negativity in the messages.
The SFPD is conducting an investigation and treating the case of vandalism as a hate crime.
Anyone with pertinent information is encouraged to contact the SFPD Anonymous Tip Line at 415-575-4444 or text TIP411 with “SFPD” at the beginning of the message.
