Incident at Asian restaurant sparks community support
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MILWAUKEE (WISN) — An incident at a Shorewood restaurant Monday night led to a surge in business on Tuesday.
In a series of social media posts, Shorewood residents said employees at Nana Asian Fusion and Sushi Bar were victims of a racist, xenophobic attack.
According to the posts, a man walked in and yelled racial slurs at employees and threw trash on the floor.
Nana’s manager declined to comment on camera about what happened.
Shorewood police told WISN 12 that during their investigation, the restaurant manager told them no racial slurs were used during the incident and the man was acting “very odd.”
Police said the man involved in the incident is well known to officers.
Three Lions Pub employees also confirmed the man had been inside their business prior to walking next door to Nana’s.
Employees at the pub said the man had been rude to them as well.
However, regardless of what the man said or what his intent was, Shorewood residents came out in droves to show Nana employees their support.
Residents told WISN 12 they wanted to make sure Nana employees felt welcomed and secure in Shorewood, in light of increased attacks on the Asian American community and the mass shootings at Asian spas in Atlanta.
WISN 12 was inside the restaurant as new dozens of food orders came in by the minute and a crowd of people waited outside in the rain for their pickup.
“I just saw a lot of gratitude from the people who were purchasing food. I also heard the phone ringing off the hook,” said Dan Haumschild, a Shorewood resident who decided to order from Nana’s after he learned what happened on Monday. “I appreciated that when I pulled in to get my food, I had to circle the block a couple times because there was a line of double-parked cars outside. It does make me feel good to be in a community that responds immediately to issues such as this.”
“We have eaten here regularly. We heard about what happened and we really wanted to show the family, my daughter goes to school with the son, that we really support them. We’re happy that they’re here,” said Village of Shorewood Board trustee Jessica Carpenter. “What happened was absolutely unacceptable and not a representation of what everyone in our community thinks.”
Shorewood police said no arrests were made and no one was injured in the incident.
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