Councilwoman ‘bruised but not broken’ by possible hate crime
She’s first Asian American woman on the San Mateo City Council
As police continue to investigate a rock thrown through the living room window of San Mateo City Council member Amourence Lee, she has vowed to keep fighting for diversity, inclusion and “justice for all” in her community.
“I refuse to lower myself or shrink back,” said Lee, who is the first Asian American woman to serve on the San Mateo City Council. Lee also is an outspoken supporter of Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights.
On June 2, shortly before noon, someone threw a 3-inch rock into the window of Lee’s home while she was inside with her husband and two children, she said in a video she posted to Facebook shortly after the incident. In the streetfacing window, Lee had displayed an American flag with the words “dignity, liberty and justice for all.”
After hearing a loud noise and seeing broken glass on the floor, Lee realized that someone had thrown the rock, though no note was attached.
“This rock could’ve come and hit my family, my daughter. This is violence in our community,” Lee said in a video she uploaded to Facebook shortly after the incident. In a subsequent blog post, titled “Bruised But Not Broken,” she also said she believed that her home was targeted and that it was more than an act of vandalism.
“I believe this is a hate crime,” Lee wrote. “Hate in our community is real. This act of violence was meant to instill fear.”
Lee, who was appointed to the council in 2019, said the attack occurred the day after she participated in the city’s kickoff for Pride Month — the raising of the Pride Flag at City Hall.
Meanwhile, other cities around the Bay Area experienced several days of protests and civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
A mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter protest, which attracted 2,000 people, took place in San Mateo on June 3. Lee said she helped youth organizers collaborate with the local black organizations and leaders on the event.
“It was the largest protest I’ve seen in San Mateo in my 11 years here,” Lee wrote on her blog. “As a council member, it was powerful to hear the messages from our speakers reverberating at city hall with the American and Pride flags flying above.”
However, Lee is among city leaders who have expressed concern that police became too aggressive in their show of force after the rally broke up and a splinter group of about 200 protesters headed to nearby Hillsdale Shopping Center.
This show of force came from San Mateo police and a supplemental group of officers from other departments, carrying what appeared to be tear gas launchers and rubber bullet guns, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal.
“The police response made some protesters feel less safe and undid the goodwill that had been built,” Lee wrote on her blog. The evening ended with no injuries, arrests, citations or damaged property, but Mayor Joe Goethals questioned whether the “heavy-handed” response was necessary and told the Daily Journal he has spoken to the police chief about reviewing department policies going forward.
Lee otherwise is grateful to police for their quick response to the vandalism at her home the day before. After calling 911, she said an officer arrived in minutes. “I call on our community to check our own prejudices and reject the demonization of police,” Lee wrote.
San Mateo police spokesman Officer Michael Haobsh said the attack at Lee’s house is being investigated as felony vandalism, but detectives are looking to see if it meets the elements of a hate crime. They have obtained surveillance footage, which appears to show a suspect, though no information about the suspect is available, Haobsh said.
Both Lee and Haobsh don’t know if Lee was targeted because she is Asian or because of her advocacy for LGBTQ rights or Black Lives Matters. Haobsh added that the vandal could have had a problem with the American flag in her window.
Haobsh also noted that San Mateo is not immune to hate crimes. The city was hit by racist graffiti in November. Messages telling people of Chinese descent to “go home” were scrawled in black wax on sidewalks and a street near the Crystal Springs Shopping Center.
As police investigate the rock-throwing incidents, Lee said she wants to focus on the positive.
“I do not believe that this hateful incident represents our community or values,” she said. “The resounding message is our solidarity to continue the work of justice and democracy together.”