A Texas man has been charged with hate crimes and is charged with molesting and assaulting an Asian family while on vacation in Florida, local authorities said.
Wade Ashton, 54, told the family to “go back to where she came from” while petting his dogs on Okaloosa Island, which apparently upset Mr. Ashton.
An argument broke out between a woman and Mr. Ashton. It ended with Mr. Ashton repeatedly beating the woman’s husband during their exchange.
“The woman’s husband says they were all initially about 25 feet apart during the verbal argument, but Anton ran around the park railing and started beating him repeatedly,” a statement from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said.
Their interaction is believed to end when the husband pulled out a gun he was carrying for protection and the eyewitnesses intervened and pulled them apart, according to local police.
Hate crime rates against Asians and people of Asian descent have increased during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the BBC. Federal numbers are not available, but rates for 2019 were at record highs prior to the arrival of Covid.
The FBI warned that the Covid-19 pandemic would spike hate crime, and the United Nations produced a report that said hate crime rates were at record highs.
“Racial violence and other incidents against Asian Americans have reached alarming levels since the COVID19 outbreak in the United States. Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans, including Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Burmese descent, have faced racist, xenophobic attacks, ”it said.
This problem was believed to be exacerbated by political leaders such as former President Donald Trump. He used racist terms for the virus, ranging from “Chinese virus” and “Wuhan flu”.
In response to the onslaught of attacks on the Asian-American and Pacific islander community, President Biden signed a law aimed at combating violence against people of Asian descent by Democratic Congressmen Grace Meng and Judy Chu.
“Asian Americans have been shouting for help, and the House, Senate and President Biden have clearly heard our pleas,” said MP Grace Meng.
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