Community comes together to support victims of Tahoe Park hate crime By Laura I. Winn
After two Tahoe Park businesses were vandalized in a suspected hate crime, the community sprang into action with a clear message: Not in our neighborhood. On January 31, Tahoe Park residents received a startling alert from the social networking app, Nextdoor: MoMo’s Meat Market and Supreme Barber Lounge, both African-American owned establishments, had been vandalized and racial epithets had been left behind. Neighbor Isaac Gonzalez, who recalled ordering MoMo’s steaks the night before his first child was born, had to see the damage for himself. “I walked into the barber shop and saw the swastika and the nword spray painted on the wall. It caused such a deep reaction within me that I knew everyone had to see the disgusting thing that had occurred,” he said. Gonzalez shared pictures of the damage online. Barber chairs were slashed and clippers stolen. MoMo’s suffered a smashed window. Then, Gonzalez created a Facebook invite for the next day: Lunch at MoMo’s. “I knew that people would want to stand together to say: This is not welcome in our community.” Karen Flores, a Citrus Heights resident and fan of the familyowned barbecue joint, was one of the estimated 300 who responded to the invitation. When she drove
up to the Broadway shopping center, the long, winding line of people blew her away. “I almost started crying because there were so many people,” she explained. Flores didn’t have time to wait to eat; she was there for another purpose. Flores approached Sharon Miller, who owns the restaurant with her husband Glenn, and asked if they needed a GoFundMe account. Flores described Sharon’s reaction, “She couldn’t even say anything for a moment, and then she just said, ‘You know what, that is so sweet of you. We’re good, all we need is money for security cameras’.” Then, Flores recalled that Sharon glanced at the donation can and said, “I’m pretty sure that’s going to cover it.” That was 24 hours after the Facebook event went viral. For the next several days, the blocks surrounding the shopping center were filled with cars of people who traveled from all over the Sacramento area to patron the restaurant and leave behind messages of support for the closed barber shop. Patrick Schiller-Nunes, who lives about a block away, led the charge to financially support Supreme Barber Lounge. On February 4, Schiller-Nunes opened a GoFundMe account with a goal of $1,000. He posted the link on his Facebook account and within hours, the goal was met. So Schiller-Nunes increased the goal by another $1,000. As donations poured in, some as small as $5, oth-
ers as large as $200, Schiller-Nunes realized he was going to need a bigger goal. In as little as five days, the total had surpassed the final target of $5,000. Over 140 people donated, included many who had never had a Supreme cut or shave. Tahoe Park resident Kenn Altine, who pointed out he is bald and no longer needs a barber, explained why he donated, “It was important to do two things in response to this horrific act. The first was to shed light on it: talk about it, make people aware of it. The use of Nazi symbols recalls an era where people turned a blind eye to what was happening in front of them. We cannot repeat that complacency,” he stated in an email. “ The second was to do something about it. Making a donation is one way. Supporting the businesses is another. An even better way is to meet the people who were targeted.” Getting to know Nick Finks, who owns Supreme Barber Lounge, has been one of the silver linings to this “disgusting and frightening” crime, said Schiller-Nunes. “I just wanted to help out and let him know that no one deserves this,” he said. “ Tahoe Park is a diverse neighborhood. Our area doesn’t have time for hate or racism.” Gonzalez shared a similar sentiment. “Whoever did this wanted to scare and intimidate these blackowned businesses,” he said. “But what they did had the opposite ef-
fect. The entire community rallied around these two shops and reaffirmed that Tahoe Park is a place of love and tolerance.”
Searching for the suspect The Sacramento Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying the person responsible for the crimes against MoMo’s Meat Marget and Supreme Barber Lounge. On Jan. 31, at approximately 1 a.m., there were two businesses in Sacramento that were victimized. Momo’s Meat Market (5780 Broadway) had a rock thrown through their window. The business next door, Supreme Barber Lounge (5776 Broadway), was broken into and vandalized. There was a 42” Vizio TV, a Clover cash register and Wahl clippers stolen from the barbershop. Supreme Barber Lounge was tagged with a racial slur and a swastika in black spray paint on the interior of the business. The barber shop was also flooded out and ransacked. The suspect is a light-complected male wearing a light-colored hoodie, dark jacket, and dark tennis shoes with white soles. A silver sedan is connected to this crime.
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www.valcomnews.com • February 16, 2017 • East Sacramento News