'What are we supposed to think?': Popular LA bar hit with anti-LGBTQ messages, slashed tires, alleged arson
LOS ANGELES - At Sorry not Sorry, the back patio is for dancing, dining and, on weekends, drag brunch.
But when Brandon Waller, the bar's general manager, came into work on Saturday, August 26, the back patio was not as he'd left it.
Friday night was the popular bar's burlesque show, an event that often attracted over 100 attendees throughout the evening. In the parking lot next to the back patio, inches away from unsuspecting diners, the tires of three employees' cars were slashed and set on fire.
On Saturday, the smell of burnt rubber still lingered in the air. The pink and teal walls were singed with dark ash; black soot sprinkled the magenta patio grounds.
According to Waller, the bar manager on site at the time put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and called both the fire department and police department.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a vandalism call at the bar on W Pico Blvd around 11 p.m. When officers arrived, the incident was categorized as arson.
The suspect already fled the scene by the time officers arrived, according to LAPD Officer Tony Im.
"They poured accelerant on each of the car's hoods," said Waller. "How is that not deliberate?"
To Waller and his team, this attack felt personal.
But it wasn't the first.
For Sorry not Sorry, the fire was only the most recent incident in a string of crimes against the bar. In an Instagram post, the bar shared that sometimes the acts of vandalism are "innocuous," like "standard tagging."
But other times, the bar said the vandalism is hateful.
In the past, their front patio was brazenly painted with Swastikas. Another time, "AIDS" with an arrow pointing at the bar was painted out front.
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"I don't know what we're supposed to feel," Waller told FOX 11 News.
Sorry not Sorry often hosts LGBTQ+ events, according to Waller. A Pride flag hangs freely on the wall.
"But it's impossible not to go in that direction… of thinking it's an intentional, targeted attack or hate crime."
LAPD said that there is no reason to believe the incident to be a hate crime at this time, but the investigation is still ongoing.
The arson incident comes only a week after Studio City shop owner, Lauri Carleton, was shot and killed over the Pride flag she displayed outside her store.
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Kim Vu, chef and owner of Sorry not Sorry, said in an Instagram post that she tries to take these incidents in stride. But in this case, Vu said "arson feels different," and the crime is forcing her and the management team to reconsider several of the bar's events due to production costs.
Waller, who's been with the bar for about two years, described it as a welcoming environment, happy to help the community.
"If you don't belong anywhere, you can belong at Sorry not Sorry," said Waller. "It's disheartening to know that people feel less safe here right now."