Vancouver arson included anti-Arab graffiti

An arson at a Vancouver restaurant appears to contain elements of a hate crime. From KGW (registration often required):

The Vancouver Fire Department said "hate graffiti" was found spray painted inside a restaurant that was set on fire.

Sprinklers doused most of the flames early Monday at the Galilee Cafe in east Vancouver. But there were also anti-Arab slogans painted on the walls.

Police arrested Andrew Morrow and Joshua McClelland on arson, robbery and harassment charges.

The owner is from Israel, and his wife is Mexican, police said.

In their on-air report, KGW showed things like "die Arabs die" and "KKK" painted on the walls, as well as an anarchy symbol. An adjoining business owner was understandably distraught, and noted the owners are Catholic. Some area residents were already leaving notes of support for the owners.

It's not certain yet what the true motivation was behind this arson.

I'll reserve judgment, as there is always some chance that whoever did it had a different motivation and tried to obscure it with racist graffiti. Still, this is a shocking and despicable crime, and if the arsonists actually did have racist motivations, then Vancouver is going to need to confront the bigots among us... head on.

Racism doesn't get talked about a lot in Clark County, and that needs to change.