A safety ambassador program charged with patrolling some of San Francisco’s toughest streets had its building tagged with a swastika early Monday.
The swastika was sprayed in white paint at 2:38 a.m. on the left side of the Urban Alchemy headquarters at 255 Golden Gate Ave., according to a spokesperson for the nonprofit.
Another racist tag, “Urban Alchemy N*****,” was left in blue paint around 6 p.m. Friday on the side of a nearby business on Eddy Street between Leavenworth and Hyde streets.
The graffiti follows news that the nonprofit is facing a budget shortfall that could force sweeping layoffs of hundreds. Last week, roughly 250 Urban Alchemy workers descended on City Hall in protest, though they dispersed quickly after learning that they had showed up too late to give public comment at the Board of Supervisors’ regular meeting.
The nonprofit said it does not believe staff members are responsible for the tagging incidents.
Surveillance footage shared by the nonprofit shows a person in a baseball cap carrying a plastic bag walking up to the storefront and spray-painting the glass window before exiting the frame.
“Unfortunately, these racist acts targeting Urban Alchemy and our practitioners come after misguided rhetoric towards our organization and on the heels of our practitioners speaking up about their jobs potentially being impacted last week,” nonprofit co-founder and COO Bayron Wilson said in a statement. “Our words and actions have consequences, and I call on our City leaders and our community to be mindful of that.”
The organization, which hires ex-convicts, has been credited with providing a calming and secure presence on streets with open-air drug markets and tent encampments. However, its workers have faced accusations of drug dealing and sexual encounters.
Urban Alchemy urged members of the public to contact the FBI if they have information about the suspect of either tagging incident.
San Francisco police and the FBI did not immediately respond to The Standard’s requests for comment.