Evanston police are investigating after a string of restaurants in the north Chicago suburb received letters containing "highly offensive racial slurs" this week, the department confirmed.
According to authorities, the first letter was reportedly sent to Ovo Frito Cafe Monday. The letter appeared to be a fake court order, "stating there is no place for Blacks, Latinx, Asians, and members of the LGBTQ community at the restaurant or in this community," the department said.
The letter contained multiple racial slurs and said things like "we don't need your Kung Flu," according to one copy obtained by NBC 5. It demanded that the restaurant shut down or there will be consequences.
"If you don't close immediately you and your group will face gang action indefinitely and you know just what all a gang can do," the letter read. "You can't run to the police or courts because we are the law."
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The letter had a return address for the Cook County Circuit Court at the Skokie Courthouse.
One day later, the owner of the Kabul House restaurant reported receiving a similar letter.
And on Wednesday, the owner of Mt. Everest restaurant received yet another.
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"This is the third letter that has come to our attention from our local restaurant owners," police said in a statement Thursday. "All the letters appear to be similar in content and contain fictitious signatures of Skokie Courthouse judges. The Evanston Police Department is working with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service regarding this investigation."
