Issaquah High School senior Leo Clouse is among the many students who enjoy hanging out at The Garage – A Teen Café near the school.
“It’s generally just an after-school space, a lot of the teens here use it,” said Clouse.
But when he went by Thursday, something shocking caught his eye – several antisemitic stickers posted on the outside of the building.
“They used literal Holocaust propaganda imagery that’s specifically designed to catch your eye, anti-semitic imagery,” said Clouse.
For Clouse, seeing the racist propaganda was personal.
“I’m part of several minorities and targeted groups – I’m queer, I’m trans, I’m a Jew and these specific stickers were targeted against Jewish people,” said the student.
Clouse says he took pictures, then ripped off the stickers and notified the café.
Kaylee Jaech, The Garage’s founder, says she was stunned to learn what had happened and believes the hateful messages were directed at The Garage.
“We were horrified for a number of reasons. One, we are a safe space, and two, Leo is Jewish and for him to see that is reprehensible and that they would target our space, specifically putting stickers on our sign, yeah, it was awful,” said Jaech.
Leo says he called the city and filed a police report, doing what he can to stop the spread of hate.
“I think I notified the right people and even if it takes a while or even if nothing really comes of it, just making people aware, I think, is important,” said Clouse.
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