Chinatown businesses vandalized — again

It’s been a tough spring for Seattle’s Chinatown International District. Businesses there were hit hard even before the state’s stay at home order. This past weekend, stores and restaurants were vandalized and robbed.

Amid a day of protests, demonstrations, and eventual looting and destruction, the glass door and window at Jade Garden -- a family dim sum restaurant that has been in Seattle for 17 years -- were smashed. Thieves took the cash register inside, leaving broken glass and a mess of debris scattered on the ground.

“Right now I just want to curl up in a ball and cry,” Chan said. “But you can’t because you got to clean up all the glass shards before you do that.”

This is the second time Chan’s restaurant was damaged recently. Vandals broke the window in March, a move he says was motivated by anti-Chinese sentiments.

With the current unrest all over the country, Chan says he understands why people are protesting. He wishes the police and elected leaders would listen.

“We need people to come out to set the record straight that what happened in Minnesota was wrong, that what’s happening in America is wrong.”

And he wishes to work in peace. Because between the pandemic and unrest, it’s been hard to make a living.