This browser does not support the Video element.
Community rallies behind Oak Park café targeted in apparent hate crime
Police are investigating after a brick with a racist message was thrown at a suburban café on Wednesday.
OAK PARK - While lighting candles and calling for peace, scores of people on Thursday gathered outside an Oak Park café that was the apparent target of a hate crime.
Police are investigating after a brick with a racist message was thrown at the café on Wednesday.
For the past four years, Reesheda Graham-Washington has owned Live Café -- a coffee house in Oak Park that serves as a gathering place for African-American groups and candidates running for office.
On Wednesday morning, a neighbor found a brick in front of the café with a note attached containing a vile racial slur.
"It had a note on it written in black marker saying, ‘no (bleep) on the ballot,’" Graham-Washington said.
"When a brick wrapped in racist rhetoric is thrown, we have no choice but to stand strong and stand together," said Rabbi Max Weiss of Oak Park Temple B'nai Abraham Zion.
On Thursday, Oak Park police blocked off the street as about 200 people gathered in front of the cafe to show support and express their outrage -- not just about what happened here -- but also the attack on the Capitol Building in Washington DC.
"Events just in the last 24 hours show us the danger of appeasing this kind of hatred," said Rev. Marshall Hatch of Leaders Network.
"I came here to support my community. I’m not OK with what happened here and I don’t want to stand by and see that happen again," said Oak Park resident Michaela Ruff.
A police spokesperson says they are still trying to find the person behind the racial attack.