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The co-owner of a Seattle tattoo parlor is speaking out after receiving a hateful note on the hood of his car.
Aaron Amundsen, co-owner of Emerald City Tattoo and Supply in the Lake City neighborhood, said his business partner allegedly found the note left under his windshield about a week after the presidential election.
A photo of the note posted on gay news site Towleroad shows that it reads: “Hey F****t. We won, so you better watch you’re [sic] back. You’re [sic] days are numberd [sic]. Make America STRAIGHT again to make it GREAT again. You will see, you c**k sucker.”
Seattle police told King 5 that they believe the note constitutes malicious harassment — a hate crime — since Amundsen is gay and the note appears to be directed toward him.
“I’ve never had to hide for one minute who I was in this neighborhood,” Amundsen told King 5. “It was like someone punched me in the gut because I had never experienced this in my life, and I’ve been out since high school. I’ve never experienced something so threatening.”
SPD found that LGBT-identified individuals experience the second highest number of bias and hate crime incidents out of all minority groups, with 76 incidents taking place in 2016.
After Amundsen’s note attracted attention on social media, the police decided to hold a Community Awareness Forum on hate crimes to address the note. The meeting will take place 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Lake City Community Center.
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