PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland police and fire officials are investigating a broken window and small fire at a bookstore in Northeast Portland as a possible arson and a bias crime.
Firefighters responded at around 4:30 a.m. Monday to a report of smoke coming out of a broken window at Dark Star Magick books, located on the corner of East Burnside Street and Northeast 8th Avenue. When they arrived, they found a small pile of books on fire and were able to quickly extinguish it.
In an Instagram post, the bookstore claimed it was a hate crime that targeted a Pride display at the store.
"In another hate crime against our store, someone came by this morning at about 4:30 am, broke out a window and tried to torch our Pride display," Dark Star Magick books said in an Instagram Post.
The bookstore said it will be closed an extra day or two. Online orders will not be interrupted.
"We are thankful for the amazing support we've always had from the Portland community and this act of hate does not represent the wonderful people of Portland. We will recover and we will continue on!" Dark Star Magick books said in the social media post.
There are apartments above the bookstore but the fire did not spread upstairs. No one was injured.
An official said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
"(An) investigator is on scene performing a forensic evaluation of the fire," Rick Graves, a spokesperson for Portland Fire and Rescue, said Monday morning. "I am meeting up with him later at our press conference and will inquire of cause if we don’t know by then."
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