According to the Pew Research Center, 40% of adults in the United States thought that the expression of anti-Asian racism became more common since the pandemic. Consistent with this finding, many Asians encountered violence because of their heritage. CBS News stated that during the period of the pandemic from March to June in 2020, there were already 2,120 reported anti-Asian hate incidents.

In the past weeks, news of numerous anti-Asian hate crimes have surfaced as Lunar New Year approaches. The year 2021 continued with the COVID-19 pandemic raging, leading to increases of hate towards Asians as people blamed them for the virus with racist and xenophobic remarks. Racist comments told Asians to go back to their country and that Asians were to blame for starting the coronavirus epidemic. The rise of anti-Asian racism and hate during the pandemic made defenseless elders subjected to assaults, verbally and physically.

Cases have risen even more since the start of 2021.

  • January 28, 2021: San Francisco: Vicha Ratanapadkdee, an 84-year old Thai man, was aggressively pushed and as a result brutally knocked to the ground when he was having a morning walk. He died two days later in the hospital because of severe injuries from this attack. The police arrested the suspect Antonie Watson and the accessory Maylasia Goo.
  • January 31, 2021: A 91-year-old man and a couple viciously were severely injured in Oakland Chinatown. The police identified and arrested Yahya Muslim as the suspect. Carl Chan, the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Oakland Chinatown, also told The Chronicle that business owners in the same neighborhood have reported over 20 assaults and robberies in recent days.
  • February 3, 2021: Noel Quintana, a 61-year-old Filipino man, was slashed across the face with a box cutter after a confrontation in the NYC subways. The assailant fled the scene when the train stopped at First Avenue and left Quintana bleeding profusely. In the Bellevue Hospital, Quintana got a hundred stitches on his face.
  • February 3, 2021: In San Jose, a 64-year-old Vietnamese grandmother was assaulted and robbed of a thousand dollars that were for Lunar New Year in broad daylight. Kathy Duong, her daughter, said that “A car blocked her in, jumped out, opened the door, grabbed her purse and then ran off,"
  • February 9, 2021: In San Leandro, four unidentified, armed men attacked and robbed an Asian man depositing at Bank of America. The four men left the bank in a vehicle and the Asian man was on the ground with injuries.

Anti-Asian hate crimes are not new and have occurred in the past as well.

  • July 14, 2020: Two men had slapped the face and tried setting the clothes of an 89-year-old Asian woman on fire at the cross section of 16th Avenue and 77th Street in Brooklyn, New York.
  • September 15, 2020: A 78-year-old woman became unconscious and received a hip injury after encountering an assault.
  • September 22, 2020: A 71-year-old woman was beaten senseless on the streets.
  • October 4th, 2020: A 40-year-old man was choked, punched, verbally attacked, and injured by another man in Manhattan, New York. The victim got injuries on his face and neck.

Non-elders have also experienced attacks.

  • March 14, 2020: Outside of a Sam’s Club in Texas, Jose L. Gomez mercilessly stabbed an Asian family including a father, a six-year-old and a two-year-old.
  • December 30, 2020: Christian Hall, a 19-year-old Asian teenager experiencing a mental crisis, was shot to death by the police in Pennsylvania when he was near a bridge with his hands up and crying for help. This case has only come to public attention in the recent week. Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney, shared a Twitter post for the justice of Christian Hall, mentioning, “This is NOT how cops should handle mental health crises!” Asians of all ages were victims of assault.

Ways to Help

  • Get Mainstream News Coverage Of National Elderly Asian American Assaults:
    • Although there are countless hate crimes Asian elders are facing, the mainstream media has still yet to report them. Sign this petition to get mainstream news cover Asian American assaults that are happening.
  • London Breed and Chesa Boudin to take accountability in murders on Asians in San Francisco:
    • Sign this peition to have Mayor Breed and district attorney Boudin to take accountability on attacks and murders of people in the Asian community including Vicha Ratanapadkdee
  • How to Report a Hate Crime Booklet Printing Fund:
    • Esther Lim created a booklet focused on how to report a hate crime. The booklet is translated in several languages commonly used in the Asian community. She needs donations and funding to send these booklets for free to first generation immigrants and elders in our community. Please consider donating to the GoFundMe to support the cause.
  • DONATE TO STOP AAPI HATE:
    • Stop AAPI Hate works to prevent and report Asian American hate crimes that have been happening since the start of the pandemic. They also have many resources on their website. Donate to help their organization.

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