Justin Kan, one of the founders of live-video platform Twitch.tv — sold to Amazon for a whopping $970 million in August 2014 — recently became the victim of a hate crime.
At approximately 3:38 a.m. Saturday morning, an unidentified male went to the front of Kan’s house and vandalized his garage door with a racial slur. Kan (who is of Chinese descent), his fiancee and his two brothers were home at the time of the incident.
Woke up to this masterpiece on my garage door in SF pic.twitter.com/7BBkruBo3q
— Justin Kan (@justinkan) August 15, 2015
The vandal was captured on Kan’s Dropcam. In the footage, a man can be seen walking by with his bike before vandalizing Kan’s garage door with the words, “Fuck you gook!”
“I was super shocked; obviously not a lot of anti-Asian racism in Bay Area,” Kan told NextShark. In an interview with SF Gate, Kan said he and his fiancee “were clearly targeted. He knew who we were. It’s pretty unsettling.”
Kan also noted that this is one of the first times he’s experienced racism in America. “I haven’t had any racist experiences in America. It was a huge surprise,” Kan said.
Ironically, the vandal was wearing a Dropbox hoodie, a company that began at Y Combinator, an American seed fund at which Kan is a partner.
ironically he was wearing a hoodie from a YC startup — pretty sure not an employee though! — Justin Kan (@justinkan) August 15, 2015
Kan could not identify the vandal and initially thought he was homeless. People on Twitter chimed in with their thoughts, including Science Inc. partner Peter Pham.
@Jason @justinkan no. hat rim was crisp. Shoes are white at base, and bike was a nicer road bike. Beard was bushy but more hipster bushy
— Peter Pham (@peterpham) August 15, 2015
Could the perp simply be a former Y Combinator applicant angry at Kan for rejecting him? Not according to Kan:
For the record, I don’t remember rejecting this guy from Y Combinator pic.twitter.com/Y0ZhmNCZnk
— Justin Kan (@justinkan) August 15, 201
Shortly after, one of Tan’s neighbors painted over the graffiti but used the wrong paint color and didn’t ask for permission.
Update: neighbor painted over racist graffiti w/ good intentions but w/o asking. Christine calls it a “help crime” pic.twitter.com/YQLG6P9Tdx — Justin Kan (@justinkan) August 16, 2015
Kan ended up being not only the victim of a hate crime and a help crime, but also a name typo as well during a TV interview.
“Justin Tan: Victim” pic.twitter.com/fn80kbk1bv
— Justin Kan (@justinkan) August 17, 2015
Kan told NextShark that there are currently no major leads on the identity of the perpetrator. Police are checking video footage from shops and vending machines around the neighborhood to find more info. Those with information on the incident can contact the San Francisco Police Department.
