Addressing Asian American Hate Crimes: O'Farrell Sponsors Motion

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell has co-sponsored a motion aiming to halt the recent surge in hate crimes against the Asian American community in Los. Along with Councilmember John Lee, O'Farrell stressed the need for City Council to protect the city's vulnerable residents, and take action to limit hate speech in Los Angeles.

"Specifically, since the onset of the pandemic, there's been a major spike in verbal and physical harassment against Asian Americans," the motion reads. "Hate crimes targeted at Asian Americans have increased by 150% since last year in our nation's most populous cities. Los Angeles is the second city with the highest increase in reported crimes against Asian Americans, preceded only by New York City."

The motion calls for the city's chief legislative analyst to report on options for the city to strengthen its response to street harassment around the city, and potential ways to mitigate and prevent it from happening. O'Farrell and Lee also called on Los Angeles Metro to report on past and future efforts to address harassment on trains, buses and at transportation stops.

"Taken together, these initiatives seek to address this increase by calling for data about the occurrence of hate crimes in Los Angeles and examining the City’s response; leveraging resources to support victims of these acts and mitigate their occurrence; and identifying steps to protect our most vulnerable residents against street harassment in our public spaces, which disproportionately impacts people of color, women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, seniors, and adolescents," O'Farrell said.

Several hateful incidents have recently been caught on camera in the city. In February, a Redondo Beach real estate agent was caught on camera harassing an Asian American woman, calling her a "stupid blue-haired Asian girl." The agent was later fired after the incident went viral on social media.

"I have lived in this city my entire life and have never felt threatened in the way I did today," the woman wrote before deleting her Twitter account. "This man singled me out bc I was an Asian girl walking by myself and took advantage. We need to hold bigots like these accountable."