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The attack on an Asian American air force veteran in Los Angeles is now being investigated as a hate crime, NBC Los Angeles reports.
A week ago, Denny Kim was walking around Los Angeles’ Koreatown when he was attacked on the sidewalk of Kenmore Avenue by two men.
The men threatened to kill Kim, berating him with racist language before they began to beat him.
“[They] started calling me ‘ching chong’ … ‘Chinese virus’ … All sorts of nasty stuff,” Kim told NBC Los Angeles. “They eventually struck me on my face. I fell down to the ground.”
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The 27-year-old veteran said this is not the first time he has experience racism.
“Throughout my career, I experienced a lot of micro-aggressions because of my race,” Kim told NBC Los Angeles. “I never felt like I fit in. I never felt like I belonged.”
Attacks like the one on Kim appear to be popping up throughout America. The number of hate crimes against Asian Americans has risen sharply since the onset of the pandemic, TIME Magazine reports.
Kim hopes that his attackers are caught and that the hate stops. He and his friends are joining efforts to raise awareness about hate crimes against Asian Americans.
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