Crime & Safety
SLC police searching for suspect in alleged anti-Asian hate crime
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Earlier this week, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall condemned two reported hate crimes within city limits.
Now, police are asking for your help identifying a man they believe is involved in one of the crimes.
Salt Lake City police said the suspect is wanted in at least two cases of vandalism.
He is suspected of painting a car with anti-Asian graffiti at 200 W. Pierpont Avenue in downtown Salt Lake on Monday.
Police asked if you have any information to call 801-799-300 and reference case #21-84167.
Incidents of anti-Asian hate and violence have spiked across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, there were nearly 4,000 reported hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationally, County Mayor Jenny Wilson said at an event to denounce hate and call for community action in March.
The Anti-Defamation League has tracked 7,528 incidents of extremism and anti-Semitism across the United States over the past year, with 79 incidents reported in Utah.
The second incident Mendenhall condemned involved a swastika having been carved in the glass front doors of a Jewish synagogue on the city’s east side. Captured surveillance video shows a suspect in that case and police are investigating.
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