Noose, racial epithet create sense of violation at vandalized Black-owned Tower District gym
Sam Akoidu, owner of Iron Bird Fitness in the heart of Fresno’s diverse Tower District, said he’s spent the past six months in business “dealing with COVID and all kinds of other stuff.”
But even he was surprised when his Black-owned business was the target of racist vandalism, including use of the N-word, on Saturday morning. Sometime between about 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., someone tied a small plastic toy skeleton to the front door with a hangman’s noose and scratched the phrase “Hey n******” into the door.
Akoidu said there was nothing amiss when he was at the gym between about 7:45 and 8 a.m. Saturday. But one of his coaches discovered the vandalism when she arrived later in the morning, notifying Akoidu by text message about 10:45 a.m.
“I’ve been through a lot in my life, and I just thought that’s what cowards do,” Akoidu told The Bee. “If that’s how you feel, you should say it directly. But to go out and buy a toy (skeleton) and scratch something in the door when no one’s looking, that’s cowardly.”
Read more: https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article247631625.html#storylink=cpy
