Asian Am groups decry feds decision to retry Chinese professor

A decision by federal prosecutors to retry University of Tennessee professor Anming Hu on accusations of failing to disclose his ties to China is being denounced by Asian American groups.

The decision announced Friday comes despite a hung jury in the same case back in June.

“The original trial laid bare the misguided and systemic efforts to strip Asian Americans and Asian immigrants of their civil liberties and shows the entrenched anti-Asian sentiment rampant among some members of law enforcement,” the OCA, Asian Pacific American Advocates said in a statement sent to AsAmNews. “More importantly, it incurred a high emotional and financial toll on Hu and his family.”

On Thursday, 12 members of Congress including Reps Ted Lieu, Judy Chu and Bobby Scott, along with Senators Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to end racial profiling of Asian Americans.

The group called for an investigation into the wrongful targeting of Asian Americans for alleged espionage.

“What the federal government has done today is confirm an utter disregard for justice and our democracy,” said John Yang of Advancing Justice, AAJC. “This trial has exposed the deeply problematic investigations, surveillance, and prosecutions of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants.”

The Justice Department did not state its reason asking for a retrial. It simply declared its intentions.

“The United States respectfully requests the court hold a status conference to discuss scheduling the retrial,” the notice from Acting U.S. Attorney Trey Hamilton states, according to WBIR.

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