Content Warning: This article discusses allegations of harassment of a minor.
Over a dozen people took to the streets of downtown Phoenix last Friday to raise awareness about a local shop owner’s alleged harassment of a minor at Lawn Gnome Publishing.
Lawn Gnome Publishing is a local bookstore and coffee shop that is known for its community events such as open mic nights and slam poetry nights. The store is also well-known for its wide selection of zines written by local authors.
The demonstration, organized by Shaylyn Wade, was intended to inform members of the downtown Phoenix community about a recent situation in which a minor who was employed at the store felt uncomfortable with alleged advances made by her employer, Lawn Gnome Publishing owner Aaron Hopkins-Johnson.
Downtown Devil reached out to Hopkins-Johnson via email for comment following the demonstration but did not receive a response before original publication of this article. Following publication, Mr. Hopkins-Johnson said in an email that the allegations against him were a “collection of fabricated testimonies” and rumors advanced by a small group of people, including disgruntled former employees, seeking to defame him and his company.
Those attending the demonstration chose to hand out a variety of flyers with quotes from women who said they have felt uncomfortable around Hopkins-Johnson. They also contained screenshots of text messages that were sent to employees from Hopkins-Johnson and original poems.
Hopkins-Johnson released a statement on the Lawn Gnome Publishing Instagram account on Sunday, July 4 following the demonstration.
“We are working with a third-party accountability mediator to collect complaints and offer solutions. We extend this service to anyone who feels that they have been wronged by our organization. This will be live July 6, 2021 at https://lawngnomesolution.us,” the statement reads.
As of the time of this publishing, the link is not active.
View this post on Instagram
The post also states that cease and desist letters will soon be issued to known parties that were distributing “printed and online material that have caused damage to [their] business, [their] employees, and to [their] vending partners through dissemination of false and misleading information.”
Wade, 29, organized the event and said that she was concerned about some of the alleged remarks from Hopkins-Johnson about a 17-year-old employee that were made to her in private when she was with him.
Wade reached out to said employee via Instagram direct messages and asked if Hopkins-Johnson had ever made her feel uneasy.
Upon hearing that Hopkins-Johnson had allegedly made the employee feel uncomfortable on multiple occasions, Wade posted an Instagram story saying that if anyone ever felt uncomfortable at Lawn Gnome Publishing, she would come pick them up and remove them from the situation.
“From there, I just got message, upon message, upon message, and it all circled back, and a lot of it had to do with Aaron,” Wade, who was formerly involved in the Lawn Gnome Publishing community, said.
“Most of the messages were just (about) harassment,” Wade said. “A few employees that were young women mentioned that he would recommend these inappropriate movies with two guys having intercourse.”
Hannah Whitney, now 18, the employee who was contacted by Wade, elaborated on her accusation, saying that immediately after being hired while she was 17, she was receiving frequent, unwanted texts from Hopkins-Johnson.
“Right off the bat, it was like he was texting me all the f*cking time, every single day,” Whitney said. “It was awkward because I was an employee and he was my boss, so I would feel bad not answering his text messages.”
Under Arizona state law per A.R.S. 13-2921, harassment is defined as communication that would cause a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed, annoyed, or harassed.
According to Whitney, the text messages made her uncomfortable at her workplace.
Whitney explained that though she felt that he was pushing boundaries and seemed to be pursuing a non-professional relationship with her, she was worried that if she stopped attending Lawn Gnome’s events, such as the open mic nights and slam poetry nights, Hopkins-Johnson would know that she was trying to distance herself from him.
“I was stuck in this position where I had to continue acting like I didn’t know what was going on,” Whitney said.
Whitney said that the situation worsened when she decided to bring her friends to the store.
“It eventually got pretty bad when I started bringing friends around in the shop, and he started asking for my friends to come,” Whitney said.
Though Whitney has since left the store, she hopes that by spreading awareness about her experience, she will be able to prevent the same thing from happening to other young girls.
Whitney explained that she felt she would not be heard because when concerns are raised about someone’s behavior, members of the community want proof before they assume that the accusations are true.
However, she believes that Friday’s demonstration might have a greater effect because she has the ability to share private messages that were allegedly sent to her by Hopkins-Johnson.
Some of these private messages sent to employees from the Lawn Gnome Publishing Instagram account were printed onto the flyers that were being handed out to pedestrians at the First Friday event.
The flyers being handed out at the demonstration did not specifically name Hopkins-Johnson, but referred to him as “local business owner.” The screenshots of texts printed onto the flyers were sent from the @LawnGnomePublishing Instagram handle.
The text messages prints on the flyers between the then 17-year-old employee and the Lawn Gnome Publishing Instagram account include a message saying, “you work with me.. and you are younger.. and I have a kid.”
The flyers also include messages from the Lawn Gnome Publishing Instagram account saying, “I wish you were here even more tho, if I was telling the totally selfish truth…. It’s not really fair of me to want you around all the time tho,” and “come over and make zines… I’ll have to put clothes back on.”
Private messages sent to Whitney that were not printed onto the flyers but were shared with our reporter included messages from the Lawn Gnome Publishing Instagram account saying, “I wish you were 20 years older and living with me right now,” along with, “we’ll see how you feel when I bring you flowers, kiss your eyelids, and get down on my knees to you.”
The demonstrators hope that by handing out flyers and talking with pedestrians near the store, they will be able to prevent other young girls from experiencing similar harassment.
“We don’t want any more kids like me to have to go through this,” Whitney said.
“I hope that this will make people look at this establishment differently and question where they want to put their money,” said Katelynn Rivera, 17, who was handing out flyers.
Walter Wilson, lead singer of local band Bummer Girl, said, “I’m here to support my good friend who has had to deal with a lot through the establishment that she used to work for, so I’m here to support her and anybody else who has been wronged.”
“This is a problem in our community and we need to spread the message and stop this from happening,” said demonstrator Kevin Schaffer, 25. “We need to let the younger generation be aware of people in power trying to exploit them and take advantage of them because it’s not fair.”
Julie Kubica, 18, said, “We need to do our part to protect minors, especially in local businesses when they’re disguised as loving places made to build community.”
Landry Ntaryamira is a well-known member of the community who has been participating in Phoenix Poetry Slams at Lawn Gnome Publishing for years, and was a friend of Hopkins-Johnson. Ntaryamira released a statement on Instagram following the protest saying that he has cut ties with both Lawn Gnome Publishing and Hopkins-Johnson.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that flyers handed out at a demonstration on Friday, July 2, named Aaron Hopkins-Johnson. The flyers did not name Hopkins-Johnson. The flyers instead refer to a “local business owner” and included screenshots of text messages sent from the @LawnGnomePublishing Instagram account. The article has been updated to reflect this. We regret the error.
Clarification: Lawn Gnome Publishing owner’s legal name is Aaron Johnson, however, he is known throughout the community as Aaron Hopkins-Johnson.
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673
EthicsPoint U.S. Harassment Hotline: 1-844-246-9964
If you or someone you know is being sexually harassed in the workplace, follow these steps to file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
If you have experienced any form of harassment from Hopkins-Johnson, please contact the reporter at clparri2@asu.edu.
Cami is Downtown Devil's co-executive editor. Cami is a third-year student studying print journalism and political science. When she's not writing or editing, she enjoys hosting radio shows, playing piano and bass, and teaching art classes at a local art studio.
