Clintonville's Lavash Café and Bakery was vandalized with racist graffiti Sunday evening.
The store's co-owner Jamal Latif told WOSU two of Lavash's doors were painted over with graffiti. One message said "Join the KKK." Latif says he heard about the graffiti and was able to purchase cleaner and get it removed by Monday afternoon.
Latif said there was an outpouring of community support after they posted about the incident on Facebook.
Lavash sits on North High Street and Tulane Road and has been open since 2008. The restaurant is known for its Mediterranean fare like Latif's personal favorite, hummus.
Latif said the business has faced verbal attacks by some people because they are Palestinian since opening. But, Latif says Clintonville is a very inclusive community and often shows its love for Lavash.
"It's an incredibly inclusive community. And, you know, being a minority, we're Palestinian, you know, business owners. It's not always the easiest in a lot of places, but in Clintonville, it makes it a lot easier," Latif said.
Latif said he was glad his employees weren't there at the time. He said people have come into the store in the past screaming and verbally assaulting his workers by shouting things like "all Palestinians should die" or other hate speech directed at Palestinians and Muslims.
Latif said he hasn't seen a marked increase or decrease of that type of hate since Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza began.
Latif said he holds dear that Lavash is one of the few restaurants in Columbus where he sees a mix of different people come in. He attributes that to the inclusivity of the neighborhood.
"There's literally the gamut of different kinds of people. You'll have people wearing, like, a niqab covering everything but their eyes. You'll have people wearing (a) Make America Great Again hat. Next to them will be a gay couple, and next to them will be just, I don't know, like a family with 10 kids or something," Latif said.
Latif said he first learned about the vandalism from a customer who noticed it late Sunday and told him about it.
Latif said he went to a local hardware store, which gave him tips on the best product to remove the graffiti. By Monday morning, all of the graffiti had been cleaned up.
When Latif posted about the graffiti on social media, he said the restaurant received a lot of support and kind words from customers in Clintonville and throughout Columbus.
Lavash was recently featured in a Twenty One Pilots music video for the band's new album. Latif said Lavash used that exposure to raise $10,000 to give to local charities.
"If anything, it reminded us, like you know, everyone's feeling disjointed with politics. And so everything in America, I feel like when things like this happen and people rally behind you, it feels like maybe things are actually pretty okay," Latif said.
Latif says the business has security camera footage of the vandalism and will file a police report. He said he hopes authorities are able to get the perpetrator the help they need.
