A disturbing message spray painted on the wall of a Guelph restaurant is now being investigated as a hate crime.
Dariq Smith, the manager of Diana Downtown, says he discovered the words "Did you bring your green card” stenciled near the back door of the building yesterday morning.
“It kind of took my breath away the second I saw it. It stops you in your tracks,” he says.
Smith believes the message is aimed at the restaurant’s visible minority employees and owner.
“Obviously it’s an issue of racism,” he says. “To refer to a green card is to imply that someone is not legal to work in Canada or that they’re here illegally. Which obviously is not the case.”
Pakistan-born Noori Shah worked at the restaurant for five years before buying the business six months ago.
She tells CTV News she’s worried about who wrote the hateful message and why.
“When I saw that writing I was upset because I’m an immigrant here. I have citizenship,” Shah says.
Const. Mike Gatto with Guelph Police agrees the message is offensive, saying “They’re hurtful comments. They’re unacceptable in our city.”
Diana Downtown’s manager says this isn’t the first time he’s experienced intolerance in Guelph.
Smith says he’s been subjected to homophobic comments screamed from car windows.
Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
