The owners of a downtown restaurant said an allegedly homophobic letter, sent anonymously, has them concerned about their safety.
Gregory Leon and his husband co-own Amilinda near Milwaukee & Wisconsin.
Leon said when he arrived at work Tuesday morning, he noticed a letter that had been delivered in an envelope with Amilinda's address typed out onto it.
There was no return address listed.
"I did think it was odd the address seemed to be typed out with an old typewriter," he said.
Leon said when he opened the letter, he found passages from Ken Peters' "I Saw the Tribulation" copy and pasted onto a two-sided piece of paper.
He admitted he did not read all of the letter, but said it is homophobic.
"It's frustrating and sad, and a little unnerving," Leon said. "I wish people were able to look past that sort of stuff and just come enjoy a good meal here."
Leon said the letter contains no direct threats. But it still has him concerned for his safety. He noted the letter also has him worried about the safety of his customers, his staff, and his husband.
Leon said the letter provided no indication as to how the sender knew he and his husband are gay.
"We don't know if this is somebody who's been in for dinner, or if it's somebody who stands outside and stares in here and we just haven't noticed," Leon said.
Leon said he reported the letter to Milwaukee Police. He said police made record of it, but told them there wasn't much they could do because the piece of mail contained no explicit threat.
Leon said he also called the FBI.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on a specific case, but said that alleged hate crimes are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office regardless of which law enforcement agency investigates a complaint.
Leon said the FBI referred him to the U.S. Postal Service.
As of 3:30 p.m., the USPS hadn't replied to a request for comment from TODAY'S TMJ4 sent in Wednesday morning.
"I'd like to find out who did this," Leon said. "I know it's probably a long shot."
