Chang Yim, 41, is the owner of the controversial Linden Bar and Liquors.
Closed by the Baltimore Police Department under “the padlock law” after city officials deemed the store a public nuisance, the west Baltimore establishment has been a popular target for opponents who say similar establishments attract crime. Now Yim, along with other Korean business-owners, is staging protests in front of City Hall, claiming they are being unfairly targeted.
Critics have said your store attracts crime and hurts the neighborhood. How do you respond?
Whenever I seen crime going on outside of my store, I call 911. I don’t want things to happen outside my store, but I can’t control what happens on the sidewalk. It’s not my problem only, it’s a neighborhood problem. I just want to run a good, honest business.
The community also said you were not responsive to their complaints. What is your take?
I met with the community three times and we tried to make improvements. They wanted me to hire an armed security guard, but after my wife’s store was robbed several times several years ago we decided we didn’t want an armed guard in the store. I did call the police department and request to pay for an off-duty police officer to work in the store, but they turned me down.
Why are you now staging protests?
What people don’t understand is, we’re on the side of the community, not the criminals. Crime affects us too, and we have to deal with all the same problems. But the difference is, we get blamed for it when all we to do is make a living and support our family.
