73-year-old Xinmin Liang says his attacker came out of nowhere.
He was enjoying a day of fishing on the Portland waterfront on the Willamette River when someone suddenly picked up a log and bashed him over the head.
Now three weeks later, the Asian American community is joining forces to say enough is enough.
“Waterfront Park is a public park, we should feel safe to visit there any time, no matter you go fishing or go walking,” said Iris Zhao of the Chinese Friendship Association of Portland to Fox12. “We feel in this public place it’s so unsafe for us, especially volatile for the Asian community.”
Asian American leaders met Sunday to organize their response to the attack.
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This coming Saturday, 18 organizations will be joining together to host a unity event near the site of the attack at 2 p.m.
The suspect remains outstanding. Liang’s son Xinmin says his father normally doesn’t fish alone and that he’s been fishing there since 2020.
“That’s his favorite spot,” Jie said to Oregon Public Broadcasting. “It doesn’t occur to him that the place is not safe. It never came across his mind.”
The attack left his father with a concussion and a broken arm. He doesn’t speak English and took public transit home before getting someone to call 911 for him.
Jie hopes the crime will be investigated as a hate crime.
“If the city wants people to enjoy public spaces safely, we have to put things in measure to make people feel safe,” she said.
Organizers of the unity event say the attack is part of a troubling trend.
“We’ve had a lot of Asian people get hurt, get beat up for no reason,” Olivia Jhao with the Lung Kong Tin Yee Association said to Fox12.
“The event is to raise awareness by the public, by the policymakers, by the officials, that Asian hate and violence against any groups of this society should not be tolerated and the criminals should be punished,” said David Ji, the Vice President of the Chinese Friendship Association of Portland. “We hope that the whole community, including everybody, to work together to make this city a safe place again, for us and for seniors and for our future generations.”
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