The vandalism of a kosher restaurant in D.C. is not being investigated as a crime of hate or bias by the Metropolitan Police Department, a call that doesn't sit right with the owner.
Someone smashed the front windows of Char Bar on L Street NW with two large stones early Saturday morning, police said. The vandalism coincided with the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as the night of broken glass — a dark moment in history in which thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and places of worship were destroyed by German Nazis in 1938.
The police report on Saturday originally showed the crime was being investigated as potentially being motivated by hate or bias. However, on Sunday afternoon, a police spokesperson told News4 there was no evidence to suggest it was.
Char Bar owner Michael Chelst disagrees.
"It’s pretty clear that it was a hate crime,” he said. “There’s seven other places with glass on this street, and they didn’t hit any of those.”
He said the crime has taken a mental toll.
“I feel bad for the people in the restaurant and some of the guests who are coming in,” Chelst said. “It makes them a little more nervous to come."
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A police spokesperson reiterated Monday the case can be reclassified if more evidence is recovered. The incident is being fully investigated with all of the department’s resources regardless of the crime’s classification, police said.
Being designated a hate crime by D.C. police would not necessarily mean it would be prosecuted as a hate crime.
Guila Franklin Siegel of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington condemned the crime.
“To have this kind of attack happen on such a dark anniversary,” she said. “To see that happening in your own community is incredibly unnerving.”
The restaurant remains open with many customers saying they stopped by to show their support.
“Our community is a product of its people, and I think through the actions of good-willed people – decent, good people who care about one another — we preserve and lift up our community," Franklin Siegel said.
It does not appear the crime was captured on surveillance video, police said.
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