Downtown San Luis Obispo store targeted twice in suspected hate crime

"It was really disappointing to see those kinds of hurtful messages in front of our store," said Lynanne Wiest, the store manager at Humankind Fair Trade in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Wiest says she showed up to work Wednesday morning to find burned political signs, a Pride flag, and a Ukraine flag by the front door.

She says she immediately notified the San Luis Obispo Police Department but adds this isn't the first time something like this has happened at the store.

"We did have a similar thing happen about a month ago, and from the looks of our security cameras, it looks like it was the same person who came about a month ago and had torn up a Pride banner and had written some really, really horrible things on it and left it in front of our store," Wiest said.

SLOPD says they do not know who the suspect is, but in surveillance videos from both incidents, the suspect appears to be a man wearing shorts, a black t-shirt, and he has a noticeable full white beard.

"With the combination of that incident and then the most current one, it's just really frustrating to see something like that happen," Wiest said.

Police add that this is an active hate crime investigation but not arson because the man did not light the items on fire at the store.

"It's really horrible and really sad," said Madison Potter, a San Luis Obispo resident who was visiting downtown on Thursday. "I think there shouldn't be any crime in SLO, especially hate crimes."

"I think it's terrible, I think it should never happen," said Kristen Baldwin, a former San Luis Obispo resident.

Wiest says she is hopeful that it won't happen again and says the store will continue to spread positivity in the community.

"Our store is really just all about inclusion and positivity and supporting people who are marginalized," Wiest said. "We would love to get people to keep supporting us and be a part of the positive things we are doing here. We are hoping that the police can track down this person and just make sure it doesn't happen again."

SLOPD says if you know anything about the incidents, call them at (805)781-7312.