Vilnius restaurant "Baleboste" attacked again: chef Blauzdavičius complains about police response
A window of a Vilnius restaurant promoting Jewish cuisine was smashed in broad daylight. Chef Vylius Blauzdavičius blames antisemites and criticises slow police response.
"Baleboste" restaurant window smashed during the day: chef speaks of antisemitism and police delay
Vilnius Jewish food restaurant "Baleboste" became a vandalism target on Friday when someone smashed the storefront window in broad daylight. The restaurant's head chef Vylius Blauzdavičius reported the incident on social media and publicly stated that he attributes responsibility for the attack to antisemites, according to tv3.lt.
"Another attack on Baleboste today. This time – in broad daylight, in front of people, with cameras watching. Someone deliberately decided that hate and violence is an acceptable way to express their opinion," the chef wrote on social media.
Blauzdavičius drew attention to the fact that this is not the first such incident and called on institutions to stop ignoring such incidents. According to him, hate crimes begin with a stone thrown at a window, and can later turn into a physical attack on people.
"Hate crimes start with a stone through a window. Tomorrow it could be an attack on a person. So let's stop pretending that this is 'just a smashed window'. This is intimidation. This is hate. This is an attack on the community," said the head chef.
Police arrived after two hours
The behaviour of officers following his call to the police provoked an even sharper reaction from Blauzdavičius. According to him, although the call was made immediately after the incident, the officers arrived at the scene only after two hours – despite the fact that there were security cameras around and the incident happened in a public place during the day.
"I can say this openly – the Lithuanian police are demonstrating unwillingness to work. A smashed window, police called within a minute, arrival after two hours, cameras everywhere in broad daylight," the chef wrote on social media.
He also expressed concern that the officers, in his view, seek to end the investigation as quickly as possible, avoiding any additional work. "I understand that they are short-staffed, but is that the problem of me, a citizen, paying taxes, living here?" asked Blauzdavičius.
The head chef stated that he is expecting concrete results – finding those responsible and a clear signal that such actions will not be tolerated in Lithuania.
Tv3.lt approached the police requesting an official comment. The article will be updated once a response is received.
Source: Google News LT — Crime (lt)