It wasn’t a typical Tuesday night at North Vancouver’s Nobu Sushi, with a flurry of phone calls for takeout orders reflecting a Friday night.
Owner Edward Hur says a large number of callers also offered support, letting him and his family know they are appreciated in the community.
“It’s very surprising,” Hur told CTV News Vancouver.
Last Friday, however, Hur received anything but support.
As he was closing up shop for the night, Hur says he saw a woman letting her dog pee on her doorstep. When he came out to confront her, things turned ugly, he says.
“I hate Asian people, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, it doesn’t matter,” Hur says the woman told him.
“I especially hate Koreans because they eat dogs.”
Hur and his wife moved to Canada from Korea 24 years ago.
Hur was able to capture some of the incident on video, but says the woman dialed his comments once her phone came out.
But there was more to it than racial slurs, he says.
“Then he spat twice on my body,” Hur said.
He says the same woman scolded and spat on his wife last year.
“My wife is very sad and very shaken,” Hur said.
“My heart is broken.”
Although it still hurts from the incident, Hur says the support of the Edgemont Village community has certainly helped.
People have started placing kind notes outside their front windows.
“Ed, we respect you and your family,” says one.
“We are so grateful to have you in our community,” says another.
Hur said people have also left gifts or stopped by to offer support in person.
“Some people give flowers, some people give a card, some people give hugs,” Hur said.
“We are not alone.”
North Vancouver RCMP announced Tuesday that they are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
The use of racial slurs is something researchers say is of particular concern.
“Hate crimes and hate-motivated criminal activity have no place in our community and our officers are working diligently to identify this suspect,” said spokesman Const. Mansoor Sahak in a statement.
Although using racist language or shouting racist abuse at someone is not, in itself, a criminal offence, using such language while committing an apparent assault means that it can be investigated as a hate crime, the police explained.
“Hate crimes, unlike incidents, are criminal offenses committed against a person, organization or property that are motivated by hatred, prejudice or bias against an identifiable group. Hate crimes are “they must report to the police,” says the detachment’s statement. .
The woman is described as white, 5’6 feet tall, with shoulder-length brown and red hair. At the time, police say she was wearing a turquoise rain jacket, dark blue pants and a light blue blouse.
Anyone with video of the incident or who believes they can identify the suspect is asked to call the detachment at 604-985-1311.
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Lisa Steacy