Rantz: Masked lunatic with hammer vandalizes Seattle business

Ian Eisenberg thought he was doing the right thing for the homeless by putting up a sign at his Seattle business, but an angry, masked woman with a hammer thought differently.

The Uncle Ike’s owner noticed a growing number of panhandlers along 15th Avenue on Capitol Hill, where his business is located. So Eisenberg wanted to help.

He put up a sign outside his business, behind a glass partition, that recommended his generous customers donate to charity, instead of panhandlers directly. He also included a collection box in the business. This way, the money can do more, while encouraging those experiencing homelessness to go to nonprofits that can connect them with resources, rather than begging on street corners and not getting long term help.

But many locals disagreed with the sign. One woman was so angry that she vandalized the sign with a hammer. Wearing an all-black getup and mask, the woman smashed the sign Monday night and it was all caught on surveillance cameras. The damage set the business back a few thousand dollars in repair and labor.

Dubbed “hammer girl,” Eisenberg has released images and video with hopes she can be identified. If you have any information, please report it to the Seattle Police Department. In the meantime, Eisenberg isn’t backing down. He’s putting the sign back up and now offering 100 percent matching for anyone who donates to the cause.

The activist Twitterverse wasn’t happy with Uncle Ike’s before or after the attack.

A message posted by Twitter user @Needs1st was picked up by the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog: “can you imagine spending the money to get this lit up sign just to villainize homeless people.”

The user went on to encourage you not shop at Uncle Ike’s and took issue with the use of the term “panhandlers.”

The user continued: “The attack was not likely intended to ‘improve homelessness’ but rather to send a clear message that rich capitalists like @UncleIkes206 can’t [expletive] on our houseless neighbors and get away with it.”

Others on Twitter piled on.

“Uncle Ike’s is the absolute worst. Shady, greedy, horrible business. I have nothing nice to say,” claimed another person. Another Tweet cried out, “Yikes, what trash.”

What motivates this vandalism and anger?

“Social currency and virtue signaling,” Eisenberg told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “It’s these people trying to show that somehow they’re more virtuous, and they support the homeless — or houseless, they call them now — and it’s a good thing giving money to someone in need.”

Eisenberg, who is politically Progressive, says he’s heard from businesses wanting to put up their own signs, but “they’re scared of the backlash from the far left.”

“I think we need to stand up for what we believe in and be willing to accept the backlash and keep pushing forward,” Eisenberg said. “Progressives tend to eat their own. If you don’t agree with them on every single issue, you’re somehow the enemy.”

Eisenberg and his businesses have been frequently targeted by progressive activists. Local activist Omari Tahir-Garrett once told Eisenberg to “go back to Germany” so that he could “let them Nazis get you again.” Eisenberg is Jewish.

The artwork on display in his parking lot was tagged with the message “kill whites” last year. This past Mother’s Day, some took issue with Unkle Ike’s Mother’s Day sale because people without families felt discriminated against.

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