Atlanta murders reignite fear in Asian American community

LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — The suspect in the Atlanta spa murders told police that his attacks weren’t racially motivated, but the shootings reignited fears in the Asian American community.

There has been a nationwide wave of assaults on Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of COVID-19.

In LA’s Chinatown Wednesday, there is the same uneasiness that’s been here for months. It’s not hard to find someone who’s been a target of crime.

In Chinese, 69-year-old Mai Jin told NewsNation she was physically assaulted and robbed of some cash just recently.

While a police presence is unmistakable here, business is down and fear is up even more after what happened in Atlanta.

When asked, Annette Chan said she was a little bit worried and scared to be outside.

The new group Stop AAPI Hate has logged nearly 3,800 anti-Asian attacks in the past year all over the country, nearly half were in California.

The initial spike in incidents happened as coronavirus spread last year with influential people using the terms “China Virus” and “Kung flu.”

Many attacks have been physical, and even deadly, though the majority verbal.

One woman was captured on video saying “You’re not from here, you’re from China. Go back to China” to a person on a New York City crosswalk.

“We certainly hope that the data and the information is activating and galvanizing community members to take action,” said the founder of Stop AAPI Hate Manju Kulkarni.

With pervasive concern and fear, volunteer patrols have formed in some cities and more Asians are becoming activists.

A recent rally in New York drew hundreds.

Traditionally quiet Asian communities are encouraged to make more noise since the majority of incidents go unreported.

“We should not remain silent victims. We have to stand up and speak out. Racism does happen in America and we need to acknowledge it and help each other out,” said United Peace Collaborative’s Co-founder Leanna Louie.