Palm Springs business victim of hate crime
“I just wish people wouldn’t treat people like this,” said Amy Wyant, owner of ‘Place of Healing’. “This is terrible.”
Wyant said she arrived to her business Thursday morning to find black swastikas sprayed onto both entrances.
“I can tell you that I feel very intimidated, I feel ridiculed. I feel awful,” Wyant told KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’S Katie Widner. “I feel depressed and I feel anxious.”
Those feelings cut even deeper since Wyant’s husband is Jewish. She has run the business located inside the Oasis Medical Center in Palm Springs for the past two months, where she sells natural health products and managed a slew of PO boxes. Wyant was the subject of controversy after she failed to obtain a contract for those boxes, therefore discontinuing service to them.
Wyant said she’s not sure if this recent event is an act of retaliation.
“I don’t know if it’s revenge or just hate,” she said.
Dr. Brian Hodgkins, vice president of clinical operations for Desert Oasis Healthcare, located just across from Wyant’s store, calls the act “shameful.”
“It’s highly disturbing that this would happen anywhere in our community, let alone on a campus dedicated to healthcare,” said Hodgkins. “And to a valuable neighbor who (is) actually leasing space on our campus as well.”
The recent vandalism also has customers concerned.
“Why would anybody want to put such a sign up there like that? I don’t understand that,” said Gena Oberhoff, who stopped in the shop after getting blood drawn.
The Palm Springs Police Department described it as a hate crime and said that despite a lack of evidence, and no surveillance footage, they are investigating.
“There’s limited information at this point, and it’s been very difficult to obtain any leads, so our detectives will certainly look into it,” said Sergeant William Hutchinson.
Anyone who knows anything about this case is asked to contact the PSPD immediately.
Wyant said the management for the center is now looking to unwind her 3-year lease, citing safety concerns for the center.
Go to the scene by watching the report here.
