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LAYTON — A food truck in Layton was spray-painted top to bottom in racial slurs and swear words. Police said they were investigating it as a possible hate crime, but the owner said it won't scare him and his family away.
Ben Pierce owns the Yum Yum Food Truck with his son. The truck serves Filipino food and it's typically parked at spots around Davis County.
They've only been in business since last August, but say they've loved bringing Filipino food to the community.
"The best way to talk to people is by sharing our food," said Pierce. "Because food is basically everybody's language."
On Saturday night, the family didn't finish working until close to midnight. But sometime after that, while the truck was parked in front of their Layton home, someone covered one side of it with graffiti.
"My mom has been here for 20 years and never had issues, not like this," said Pierce.
Pierce is originally from the Philippines, but he's lived in Utah since he was a teenager.
He said the spray paint is easy to cover up, but he got emotional when he talked about the effect it might have on his children.
"They grew up here. My kids, they were born here. So they think, themselves, 'I am an American.' But when they hear 'go back home'… this is their home," said Pierce.
On Monday, the family spent the day painting over the vandalism.
While they will miss one day of business, they plan to be back serving food tomorrow.
They said they know this was an act of hate by one or two people, but say in no way does it represent how the community feels as a whole. They said so many people have reached out to them to see how they can help, and they're deeply grateful for the support and love they've been shown.
"We love this community. We love this place. There's no other place we want to be than here," said Pierce.
Anyone who has information on this possible hate crime has been asked to contact the Layton Police Department.
