Oregon coffee shop vandalized after announcing ‘coffee with a cop’ event

A native-American owned coffee shop in Portland, Oregon, was vandalized this weekend after announcing it would host an upcoming “Coffee with a Cop” event in which members of the community could sit with police officers and ask them questions and voice their concerns.

Loretta Guzman, who owns Bison Coffeehouse, found her business the target of an attack this weekend in which six individuals are alleged to have shattered the windows of the shop.

The attack came right after Guzman had posted on social media that the shop would be hosting the event where community members and police could begin to improve their relationship.

“I was just hoping people from the community could bring their concerns, their questions,” Guzman said in a statement.

Guzman is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, and opened the coffee shop after a dream she had while she was in the hospital battling cancer. From the start, Guzman expressed hope that her shop would be a space for the community to come together. “I always open my doors to people—for poetry slams or gatherings. It’s a community space,” she said.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Tweeted about the incident last Wednesday, saying the “hate-filled” vandalism “happened on the eve of Bison Coffeehouse hosting an event to bring the community and police together.”

Wheeler went on to say he would “advocate for the prosecution to the fullest extent of the law—including potential federal hate crimes.”

Guzman says after the attack, the community rallied to help her clean up and reopen her shop. “There are still things we got to clean and get repaired, but the outpouring of customers, friends, neighbors who asked what they could do to help. They wanted to help,” she said.