Lee Sponsors Anti-Asian Hate Crime Motion

NORTHRIDGE, CA — Councilmember John Lee announced that he is co-sponsoring a motion to address the dramatic surge in anti-Asian hate crimes, which have risen 150 percent in major American cities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Los Angeles is second only behind New York in the increase of anti-Asian crimes, according to the motion.

“Crimes motivated by race have not just increased significantly against Asian Americans, but become increasingly violent. As a Korean American, I find this especially troubling and disheartening,” Lee said in a statement Thursday. “Hatred and discrimination against Americans of Asian descent is a sad and ugly part of our nation’s history and has reared its ugly head again during the pandemic because of stereotyping and conspiracy theories. We need to do better. And we need to remind everyone that in the City of Angels, these behaviors will not be tolerated.”

The motion, which is also sponsored by Council President Nury Martinez and Councilmembers Joe Buscaino, Mitch O'Farrell, Nithya Raman, and Monica Rodriguez, calls for the city’s chief legislative analyst to report on options for the city to strengthen its response and propose solutions to street harassment. Lee also called on the Los Angeles Metro to report on its efforts to address harassment on trains, buses, and transportation stops.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider allocating roughly $831,000 towards an anti-bigotry task program called LA vs Hate.

"Despite our efforts to combat hate, the situation has gotten worse," said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who authored the motion. "Amongst other things, let's lay the blame where it belongs. This deteriorating situation is partly due to the fact that the person with the loudest bullhorn in the country mocked and denigrated our API communities for the better part of a year."

Anti-Asian hate crimes, fueled largely over a virus that originated in Wuhan, China, are way up all over the country. They climbed in 15 major American cities, and Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Seattle, and San Jose have all reported their most significant increases and highest tallies in at least five years, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism out of Cal State San Bernardino.

Hate incidents have continued to climb, especially against seniors, Solis said, with more than 800 attacks ranging from verbal insults to physical violence reported via the county's 211 information line over the last year.

"In my district, a Chinese man was attacked at a bus stop in Rosemead and a temple in Little Tokyo was vandalized in the past several weeks," she said. "And we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The vast majority of hate incidents have gone unreported."

Matthew Leung, an elementary school teacher's aide who was beaten with his own cane at a bus stop on Feb. 7, lost the tip of his finger as a result of the attack. However, detectives told the Los Angeles Times that they believed the assault was random rather than race-related or a hate crime.

The county has been tracking hate crimes for more than 40 years and has seen an increase every year for the last six years, according to Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations Executive Director Robin Toma.

"Our last full year report hit our highest level in 10 years," Toma said. "There were large increases in 2019 in white supremacist hate crime. We saw the second highest number we've ever seen of hate crimes with anti- immigrant slurs ... and anti-Asian crime grew precipitously, as well."

The city of Los Angeles has seen a more recent doubling in hate crimes against Asian residents, a trend seen across many large American cities, according to Toma.

Community leaders and victims urged Angelenos of all races and nationalities to stand together against hate.

"It is our collective responsibility, it is our collective fight to root out hate and hatred in our communities," county Supervisor Holly Mitchell said. "Hate is real, it is dangerous, and just like COVID, hate can spread rapidly if not addressed head-on."

One victim shared stories of a family in her West Covina neighborhood who repeatedly harassed her and allowed their dog to attack her.

"As an Asian woman, I am afraid now," Shelly Shen said, adding that she and her other neighbors have installed security cameras to protect themselves.

Shen said she was frustrated by the lack of support for her complaints prior to finding LA vs Hate.
Another victim expressed frustration with law enforcement officers who told her they couldn't arrest a stranger who told her to "go back to Asia" and called her derogatory names when she declined to have lunch with him.

Some departments have since provided additional training, she said, including teaching officers that they can write incident reports even if a crime has not been committed.

LACCHR Commissioner Fredrick Sykes, a former sheriff's deputy, said that while officers who didn't witness a crime may be unable to make an arrest, victims should know they can initiate a private person's arrest that will generate a citation.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said he would hold perpetrators responsible.

"Any act of hate against any one of us is an act of hate against all of us," Gascon said. "We want to send an unequivocal message that there is no tolerance for hate in our community. That whether you target our brothers and sisters of the API community, LGBTQ community or the Black or the brown community or any other community, we will stand together to make sure that those who are fear mongering, those who are expressing hate will be held accountable."

— Michael Wittner, City News Service, and Kenan Draughorne contributed to this report.