Neighborhood Market receives threatening note following vandalism incident last week

Last week, Neighborhood Market owners reported an act of vandalism that saw the eastside store in disarray on Wednesday. Now owners say they've received a threatening note that warns them not to reopen their store.

Owners Reem Alsulaimawi and Hayder Hayyawi, both Iraqi Muslims, were going through a "routine night" on Wednesday of cleaning the kitchen inside the location off of 12th Street, after shutting off the lights and locking the doors. Then, they heard a crashing noise and the breaking of glass.

Hayyawi initially wanted to leave the cooler to confront the suspects, but his girlfriend Alsulaimawi held him back. The two hid in the walk-in freezer for at least 10 minutes, while calling family members and the police. By the time police arrived, the suspects were already gone, Hayyawi said.

After the damage was done, the business had hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost inventory along with damage to register systems, doors, windows and other items in the store. Hayyawi estimated that 30 to 40 percent of his inventory was ruined, with an estimated loss of $100,000 to $150,000. The business is currently closed due to the damage.

On Saturday, Hayyawi went to the store, which had been boarded up. He said someone had made a hole through the wood and left a note reading "Don't reopen. Shut your mouth, it will get worse."

When the vandalism was announced, the community came together to help the Neighborhood Market, Hayyawi said. South Dakota Voices for Peace and Startup Sioux Falls released a joint statement in support of the market.

That organization’s mission is to “build power and enable healing in immigrant, refugee and Muslim communities by amplifying their voices and working in solidarity with all who dismantle bigotry and racism.”

Brienne Maner, president of Startup Sioux Falls, shared a Facebook post and made a call to action.

“I felt as though I was being hit from all sides when learning about the vandalism because I am a Sioux Falls native; my family lives here and within a mile of this business; and my job is to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners,” Brienne Maner, president of Startup Sioux Falls said in a statement.

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Roughly 20 people or so community volunteers assisted Hayyawi and Alsulaimaw in picking up the damage.

"They did a great job. We had like 20 people come in and start helping us clean and all that, so they did a great job," Hayyawi said. "We did get a lot of support from them."

This isn’t the first incident the business has faced. Neighborhood Market opened on the east side of Sioux Falls in March. Since then, Hayyawi said the business has faced three incidents in total, with the latest being the worst. They've included another instance of vandalism and a person holding some employees at gunpoint.

Hayyawi's brother, Shaheen, runs an auto shop near the market. That shop opened in January of 2022, and since then the business has received over a dozen threats.

Now, with the recent vandalism, Neighborhood Market is relocating. Hayyawi said they have secured a spot on the west side of town, and it's expected to open within the coming three to four weeks.

"We are relocating for sure after we go through this because this is not the right spot for us," Hayyawi said. "I mean, three times within a year (we've been vandalized)."

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Hayyawi previously ran the business as a Shop N' Cart location, selling gas and liquor. Now, the business sells groceries, along with a restaurant Sahara Grill that cooks up Middle Eastern dishes.

"The neighbors around, they did not like the fact that liquor is gone and a lot of stuff is done. It's now like a market/restaurant," Hayyawi said. "We did get a lot of threats."

In a Facebook post after the incident, Alsulaimawi called the crime a “hate crime.” But the Sioux Falls Police Department isn’t investigating it as a hate crime, according to police spokesman Sam Clemens.

“To qualify for a hate crime, the state law definition must be met and there is nothing at this point to suggest it was a hate crime,” Clemens said in an email. “However, if a suspect is found, ultimately the charging decision for that rests with the State’s Attorney’s Office and that could be a charge they consider.”

Clemens said the crime is still under investigation. Hayawwi said the business does have security cameras.

In South Dakota, a hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity/national origin.

“No person may maliciously and with the specific intent to intimidate or harass any person or specific group of persons because of that person’s or group of person’s race, ethnicity, religion, ancestry or national origin,” Chapter 22-19B says in the South Dakota Legislature.

In 2020, the latest data available, the U.S. Department of Justice reported 17 hate crimes with bias motivation in South Dakota, with 15 of them being based on race, ethnicity or ancestry.

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“As a community, we must come together to patronize this market, buy groceries from here and eat at their restaurant to show those who perpetrated the crime, that we are a strong community that comes together,” said Taneeza Islam, executive director for South Dakota Voices for Peace in a statement. To help the business, there has been a GoFundMe set up to raise funds for the business to repair. If anyone has information on the crime, they are asked to call Crime Stoppers at (877)-367-7007. Money from GoFundMe will be used to rebuild the business and add both security cameras and guards. As of Monday morning, the fundraiser has received more than $12,500 in donations.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Neighborhood Market vandalized, threatening note left for owners