A street safety ambassador program charged with patrolling some of San Francisco’s toughest streets had their building tagged with a swastika early Monday.
The swastika was sprayed in white paint on the left side of the Urban Alchemy’s headquarters at 255 Golden Gate Ave. at 2:38 a.m., according to a spokesperson.
Another racist tag saying, “Urban Alchemy N*****,” was left in blue paint on the side of a nearby business on Eddy Street between Leavenworth and Hyde streets around 6 p.m. Friday.
The hateful graffiti follows news that the nonprofit is facing a budget shortfall which could potentially force sweeping layoffs of hundreds of staff. Last Tuesday, roughly 250 Urban Alchemy workers descended on City Hall in protest, though they dispersed quickly after they were told they showed up too late to give public comment at the Board of Supervisors regular meeting.
The nonprofit said it does not believe staff 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 chief operating officer Bayron Wilson said in a texted 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 helping provide a calming and secure presence along streets with visible mental health crises, open-air drug markets, and tent encampments. Its workers have also faced accusations of drug dealing and sexual encounters.
Urban Alchemy urged the public to come forward and contact the FBI if they have information about the suspect of either hateful tagging incident.
San Francisco police and the FBI did not immediately respond to The Standard’s requests for comment.