ANTI-ASIAN HATE ‘SURGE’ FOCUS OF VIRTUAL FORUM
Between 2017 and 2019, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office did not receive any referrals from local law enforcement agencies for suspected anti-Asian hate crimes, District Attorney Summer Stephan said during a virtual forum Wednesday night.
But in 2020, law enforcement agencies referred three suspected anti-Asian hate crimes to Stephan’s office that her deputies are now prosecuting as felonies — a “surge” she attributed to false narratives and misplaced blame around the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We get asked, ‘Were those crimes focused on ... COVID-19 and the terrible blame and false blame against our communities?’” Stephan said during the forum. “And while I can’t answer that question as to these (three) cases pending specifically, I can say that a safe guess is that the blame regarding COVID-19 has been a big part of what we see. That false narrative has been a big part of stirring the anti-Asian hate crimes.”
Stephan said the large majority of hate crimes still target Black and Hispanic people. In 2019 in California, Black people were the target of 46.5 percent of all racebased hate crimes, and Hispanic people were the target of 21 percent, while Asians and Pacific Islanders were the target of 8.2 percent of race-based hate crimes.
But Stephan expects the percentage of race-based hate crimes targeting members of the Asian and Pacific Islander community in 2020 to grow, though the data from last year won’t be available until July.
Wednesday’s forum, the first in a “Stop Asian Hate” series hosted by The San Diego Union-Tribune and moderated by JoAnn Fields from the Asian Pacific Islander Initiative, was focused on defining what constitutes a hate crime and discussing potential policy changes. Fields also is a member of the U-T’s Community Advisory Board.
Leonard Trinh, who heads the district attorney’s hate crimes unit, said such crimes are among the hardest to prosecute because he has to prove not just that a crime occurred, but that it was motivated by hate.
He said hate crimes should always be reported to law enforcement, as should hate incidents, which Stephan described as incidents fueled by hate that don’t rise to the level of a crime.
Trinh said it’s important to document what is said — like potential racial or homophobic slurs — when a crime is committed. “A lot of times the best indication that something is a hate crime are the words that the suspect or defendant uses during the commission of the crime.”
While the forum touched on what a hate crime is, several panelists also used it as an opportunity to rally, uplift and empower the Asian and Pacific Islander community.
Julia Legaspi is a smallbusiness owner who is transgender. She also serves on a sheriff’s advisory board. “If we’re not seated at the table, we’re on the menu,” she said.
Moana Cabiles, a native Hawaiian community leader, encouraged “folks to put themselves out there.”
But while the forum offered definitions of what a hate crime is, there were fewer answers about how to stop hate crimes on a micro level.
When asked by a community member how members of the Asian and Pacific Islander community can protect themselves while out and about, the panelists fell silent.
The second virtual forum in the “Stop Asian Hate” series is scheduled for 5: 30 p.m. April 21.
To view the forum, go to sandiegouniontribune.com/ uttoday for the livestream. To ask questions of the panelists, go to the U-T’s Facebook page.