Capitol Hill mainstay Used Furniture endured several incidents of vandalism and property destruction over the weekend, the latest in a string of events starting in early October. Owners and partners John Evans and John Morrison reviewed their security footage and found evidence of hate speech just prior to midnight on New Year's Eve.

Used Furniture has been located at 117 Summit Ave. E. for over 18 years, adjacent to Pretty Parlor and across from the Biltmore Apartments building. Keeping the business alive was difficult during the 2020 shutdown, the couple told the SGN. "The store is still just upside down from COVID-19," Morrison said.

Both owners are in their seventies now and have been together since before the legalization of marriage equality. They've been through sickness (including major surgeries) and health since the pandemic began.

The store has seen financial losses, but the owners also witnessed the community come together to support them during the past two years' trying times. Even through the months of civil unrest and upheaval on Capitol Hill that year, which included spikes in vandalism, the owners said they never thought someone would target them.

However, they have now seen four separate attacks of vandalism on their business. In the first week of October, a large amount of garbage was dumped directly in front of their door, and the vicinity smelled intensely of feces. They said they kept quiet, assuming the culprit was a homeless or mentally ill person. Morrison said, "Mental illness is a huge problem that needs to be addressed [in Seattle]."

On Christmas Day, the store was trashed a second time. "The stench and the mess was unbelievable," said Morrison. They then installed security cameras to monitor the situation.

Now, they have partial security camera footage and evidence of the latest attacks on their storefront on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. They were watching the Space Needle from their window at home, and at the same minute that the fireworks began, their cameras caught someone yelling hateful speech at the storefront. This is why they say they filed a police report. This event has caused the crime to be upgraded from basic vandalism to a felony hate crime.

Later on New Year's Eve, as if someone knew the exact location of their two outdoor cameras already, both recordings stopped. "Somebody that knew the cameras were there did this," said Evans. "They knocked them right out, like with a paintball gun or something."

The cameras have yet to be recovered. No other stores nearby were hit.

After the attack on New Year's Eve, the typically tidy storefront was trashed, from the sidewalk to the windows and doorknob. On New Year's Day, just after Evans and Morrison cleaned up the mess and were heading to the police, they realized their truck's tires had been slashed. They say the cost of the cameras and tires has totaled $1,300.

Through each of these events, the most appalling aspect was the smell, said Morrison.

"I thought it was poop at first," said Evans. "Then a young man from the Biltmore came and informed us of something you can buy on Amazon, something called 'Liquid Ass.'"

While classified under "Toys & Games" on Amazon, Liquid Ass is like a smoke bomb to the olfactory system. For the storefront itself to hold the stench, the attacker(s) would have needed to deploy a large quantity directly onto the exterior of the building, likely several cans per attack. It could be smelled across the street.

"It's very disturbing," said Morrison. "We weren't going to go to the police at first, but like they told us, we need to be asking the community for their eyes."

While the video footage is being analyzed and the store is taking on extra security measures now, the suspect or suspects remain at large as of Tuesday.

Anyone with information regarding these events are asked to call John Morrison at (206) 261-7888 with details.