Attacks on Asian Americans: What is happening in USA

At three spas in Atlanta, a man, named Robert Aaron Long, from Georgia murdered eight people including six Asian American women. It is the latest one in the row of attacks on Asian Americans that boiled the sentiments of the community and forced President Joe Biden to meet them in regard.

It is not an end. The beginning is too long. Salman Muflihi was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 36-year-old Asian man on a street in New York.

The repetition of the same incidents has not diverted. An elderly Thai immigrant dies after being shoved to the ground. A Filipino-American is slashed in the face with a box cutter. A Chinese woman is slapped and then set on fire. These have all happened against Asian Americans.

Stop AAPI Hate report, which tracks incidents of violence and harassment against Asian Americans in the US, has reported nearly 3,800 instances of discrimination against Asians in the past year. The actual number could be much higher.

The FBI also warned at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US that it expected a surge in hate crimes against those of Asian descent.

Here are some of the recently reported attacks:

1. An 84-year-old Thai immigrant in San Francisco, California, died last month after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk. Captured on a neighbor’s security camera, the video of the attack was watched with horror around the world.
2. In Oakland, California, a 91-year-old senior was shoved to the pavement from behind. The street attacks in Oakland occurred amid an alarming number of assaults on Asian people across the country, which anti-hate advocates say stem from Asians being blamed for the coronavirus.
3. An 89-year-old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn, New York. Surveillance video shows her leaving her home and then only minutes later returning after being set on fire.
4. A stranger on the New York subway slashed Noel Quintana, a 61-year-old Filipino American passenger’s face with a box cutter. The man allegedly slashed Quintana’s face from ear to ear.
5. Asian American restaurant employees in New York City told the New York Times they now always go home early for fear of violence and harassment.
6. An Asian American butcher shop owner in Sacramento, California found a dead cat – likely intended for her – left in the store’s parking lot; police are investigating it as a hate crime.
7. An Asian American family celebrating a birthday at a restaurant in Carmel, California, was berated with racist slurs by a Trump-supporting tech executive.