The Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce has issued a statement "on behalf of the Lake Chelan Valley community" regarding a .
Mike Steele, executive director of the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, emailed the following statement to Patch on Monday afternoon:
The Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Lake Chelan Valley community, wishes to express its sincere concern about the racist incident that happened in our area as reported on Sept. 7.
In the Lake Chelan Valley, we pride ourselves on being a community full of caring and compassionate individuals. Our community shares in the outrage of this senseless act. The individuals that committed this act of hate do not represent the views, philosophies, or perspectives of this community.
We are asking that anyone with information regarding this case please contact the Chelan County Sheriff’s office. It is our sincerest hope that the individuals responsible for this act are found and brought to justice.
A group of nine young Muslim students—several of whom live in Issaquah, Redmond and neighboring Eastside cities—had gone to Lake Chelan for a day of jet-skiing when their rental vehicle was vandalized and tagged with the racist slogans "Sand N**gers" and "Doon Goons" (sic).
On Friday, the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and asked for local leaders to denounce the act in public.
Do you think the chamber's response is appropriate? Should other local groups or officials issue similar statements?
