Black-Owned Business' Black Lives Matter Signs Vandalized Using 'Thin Blue Line' Symbols
YUBA CITY (CBS13) — Yuba City police are investigating after a business' Black Lives Matter signs were covered with blue paint and hidden under a 'thin blue line' flag someone stapled to their building.
Police are investigating the act of vandalism as a possible hate crime.
Samuel and Pamela Thompson own Porky's Barbecue on Bridge Street in Yuba City.
"Why are you so angry where you deface someone else's property?" Pamela Thompson said.
"You don't own this building," Samuel Thompson said.
The couple began displaying the BLM signs during the George Floyd movement.
"When they start painting the windows, the next thing to do is to firebomb it," Samuel Thompson said.
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Thompson is also a military veteran.
"We love the police, I mean, we believe in law and order," Samuel Thomson said.
Yuba City police released a statement reading in part: "The Yuba City Police Department does not support or tolerate the use of law enforcement symbols to deface property or intimidate people for their beliefs or support of other causes."
Marci Christofferson lives in Yuba City and says she does not support the Black Lives Matter movement but she does support the Thompson's business.
"I think all lives matter," Christofferson said. "I don't think vandalism of any sort, by any group is justified."
The Thompsons took the 'thin blue line' flag and have moved it to another location on their restaurant. It is now on display alongside the Black Lives Matter messages.
Yuba City Police say they are looking at surveillance camera video to locate a suspect and are also increasing their patrols in the area.