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Thai restaurant in California that was falsely accused of selling dog meat is forced to shut down over harassment

• Tasty Thai started to face scrutiny after Maria Alvarez Garcia published a series of defamatory photos and videos online
• The posts alleged animal abuse was occurring at a home next door
• Within days, the posts spurred racist discourse amongst several commenters on sites like Yelp, culminating with the family-owned eatery’s closure on Tuesday

By Alex Hammer For Dailymail.Com

Published: 18:39 BST, 31 May 2023 | Updated: 21:18 BST, 31 May 2023

A California Thai restaurant falsely accused of selling dog meat after a woman took to social media to share a post of a dog tied up nearby has closed. 

Only open for six months, Fresno’s Tasty Thai started to face unwarranted scrutiny less than two weeks ago – after Maria Alvarez Garcia published a series of posts to social media showing a pit bull tied up near the restaurant.

Since-deleted, the photos and videos did not contain any claims concerning dog-meat themselves, but instead alleged animal abuse at a home directly next door – that is, until she realized the eatery’s owners were Asian.

At that point, the woman – whose social media is riddled with videos approaching tied-up or stray dogs she suspects are abused – posted a clip suggesting something shady was going on in the restaurant’s kitchen, citing the dog as evidence.

Within days, the posts – one of which reportedly showed Garcia confronting the owner of the health dog – spurred racially charged discourse amongst commenters, and eventually a hate crime investigation.
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The saga started when Maria Alvarez Garcia (seen here) published a series of posts showing the pit bull tied up near the eatery. After finding out there was an Asian restaurant next door, she posted this clip suggesting something shady was going on in the restaurant’s kitchen

Carried out by the Fresno Police Department, the probe quickly found both the dog meat and abuse claims to be false. 

On Tuesday, owner David Rasavong – a longtime citizen of Fresno who operated the eatery with his two elderly parents – revealed he decided to close the restaurant for the safety of his fellow owners, who are 74 and 67, as well as his staff. 

Read the rest here:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12144671/Thai-restaurant-falsely-accused-selling-dog-meat-Fresno-closes-racial-abuse-online.html

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