Police condemn racial attacks against popular Hobart business owner
Racist letters and graffiti aimed at a popular Hobart business owner has been condemned by police and the man's community. Advocates say it's a growing problem and more needs to be done to stop the incidents from occurring.
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00:00 Restaurant owner Jarnel has set up a life he's proud of in Tasmania.
00:06 So a lot of people come here, not as a customer, they just came to see me, "Hi Jimmy, how are you doing?"
00:13 But in recent months, racist abuse has shaken his sense of community.
00:18 It's mentally very stressful when it comes to your house and particularly they are targeting with your name on it.
00:25 It started with dog poo smeared on his car door.
00:29 Now he's getting racist letters sent to his house.
00:33 Letters so vile they've had to be blurred.
00:36 They contain threats, his driveway has been targeted and damage has also been done to his car.
00:43 Ten years in Tasmania, never ever happened this to me before.
00:47 This is the first time and it's been continuously last two, three months.
00:51 It's getting worse at the moment, definitely it's getting worse.
00:54 Tasmania's multicultural council says unfortunately it's not an uncommon experience.
00:59 It does not only impact the individual, it impacts the household, it impacts the community.
01:05 Because the trauma is transferred from one person to another and it has a life long impact on people.
01:12 The racial abuse experienced by Jarnel has been reported to police and is being investigated.
01:17 They say there's no excuse for any form of verbal or physical harassment in the community
01:22 and that anyone who's been the victim of a prejudice related incident should contact police immediately.
01:28 We stand with Jimmy and people who make our community great and we stand against perpetrators of racism.
01:35 We need to take care of our community members, our friends and we need to start having that conversations on our tables, in our offices.
01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]