by Assemblymember Evan Low (Democrat)
On August 20, 2022, a World Journal article titled “The Video of Vicious Young Men Robbing and Beating Old Lady Ren Revealed A Heinous Anti-Asian Crime Scene” quoted comments by Nainoa Johsens, Director of Asian American Media of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Johsens accused Democrats for being soft on crime and emboldening criminals, pointing as an example to the recent recall of the San Francisco District Attorney. As he suggests that Democrats are to blame for the wave of recent anti-Asian hate, his implication is that Republicans have sided with our community against anti-Asian hate. None of this could not be farther from the truth – at the national, state or local level.
Former Republican President Trump likes to say that “Under the Democrat rule … the criminals have been given free reign more than ever before…” This is the same Republican President who suggested Chinese and Asian Americans were responsible for COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Trump repeatedly used phrases like “China virus” and “kung flu” to blame our Chinese community for COVID-19 and to deflect his inept handling of the pandemic. After Trump ramped up his anti-Asian rhetoric, his Republican allies across the country repeated his harmful rhetoric, which led to the skyrocketing increase in anti-Asian hate incidents and violence.
While the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), led by Democratic Asian legislators, immediately warned that such racist language would escalate anti-Asian hate incidents, Trump continued to normalize anti-Asian hate. In 2020, when the U.S.House of Representatives passed a resolution to denounce anti-Asian racism, 164 Republicans voted against it, and only 14 voted in favor, while Democrats voted for it. In 2021, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, authored by Asian Democrats Congresswoman Grace Meng from New York and Senator Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, was signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden, after it was supported by all Democrats, while 62 Republicans voted against it. The Democratic Biden Administration recently announced plans to allocate $49.5 million to improve cultural and community-based services for domestic violence and sexual survivors, particularly Asian individuals with limited English proficiency.
In California, Democrats throughout the state have fought against anti-Asian hate from the very beginning. California Democrats, led by Asian Democratic legislators including myself, Rob Bonta, David Chiu, Dr. Richard Pan, and Phil Ting, worked together to pass the historic $166.5 million “API Equity Budget” — the largest investment in California history to address anti-Asian hate and equity challenges. Notably, the budget did not receive the support of the Republicans in the California Legislature.
From the API Equity Budget, $110 million has been allocated to organizations that provide services to help victims of hate crimes, $45.5 million has been devoted to address racism in schools, set up an anti-hate hotline, and ensure data tracking of anti-Asian hate, and $10 million provided to ethnic media outlets to improve outreach to Asian communities and others. Prominent Chinese media such as World Journal Los Angeles, Sing Tao Newspaper San Francisco, Sky Link TV, and News for Chinese were some of the grant receivers of the first round of ethnic media funding.
Meanwhile, this year, the Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus (AAPILC), comprising of eight Democratic Senators and Assemblymembers, has continued to lead the charge for more anti-hate crime legislation, including AB 2448, which requires businesses to train workers on spotting and reporting acts of discrimination, and SB 1161, which would increase safety for public transit riders subject to hate incidents.
At the local level, despite suggestions to the contrary, the recent successful recall of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was led by Democratic Asian leaders. The Chair of the recall campaign was Mary Jung, a Chinese woman and former Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party; another key leader in the recall effort was Nancy Tung, a criminal prosecutor who is also an elected member of the San Francisco Democratic Party leadership. San Francisco has an overwhelming number of Democratic voters, and a strong majority of those voters, including many Asian Democrats, voted to recall DA Boudin from office.
Personally, as a fourth-generation Chinese American with a brother who serves as a San Jose police officer, I have authored a series of bills to support police officers. As a result, I was honored to be Legislator of the Year by both the California Police Chiefs Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California. Like my fellow Asian Democratic colleagues, I firmly believe supporting police reforms and providing resources to law enforcement are not mutually exclusive, and we can create laws to support honorable officers who protect us.
During the Trump era, Americans became accustomed to hearing false information described as fact. His Republican allies continue to peddle lies that Democrats don’t care about public safety or anti-Asian hate crimes. Don’t believe the lies.
World Journal Article
The Video of Vicious Young Men Robbing and Beating Old Lady Ren Revealed A Heinous Anti-Asian Crime Scene
by Reporter Ding Shu/Instant Report at 15:34 8/20/2022
Violence against Asian Americans continues to emerge. The Chinese Old Lady Ren in the San Francisco Bay Area was beaten by four vicious young men. The exposure of the apartment surveillance has shaken Chinese and Asian-Americans. With one being still at large, three of the four suspects have been arrested and brought to justice. The Asian community and the Republican Party have called for severe punishment under the law.
Coming from inner Mongolia of China, Old Lady Ren is living in an apartment in the North Shore district of San Francisco. On the afternoon of July 31, four teenagers pretended to ask her what time it was and then tried to rob her of her watch and cell phone. They beat her during the robbery. After the brutal incident, old lady Ren was bedridden with her body covered with wounds. With one 14 year-old suspect being still at large, the three other suspect who are arrested are 18, 13, and 11 years old, respectively.
From what revealed in the surveillance video, one observes that these
four villains are absolutely devoid of humanity. They knocked Old Lady
Ren to the ground, and turned around and kicked the 70-year-old granny in
the head, even though she was already lying on the ground. One can’t
accept any reason, such as “misguided youth”, to excuse these teenage
thugs.
The only adult suspect in the case, Darry Moore, was charged with
multiple felonies, including robbery, assault, abuse elder, burglary, and
other counts during the court hearing on August 17, but he was not
charged with hate crime.
Nainoa Johsens, director of Asian American media of the Republican National Committee (RNC), pointed out that anti-Asian crime in Democrat-run cities is out of control, and recent violent anti-Asian crimes in several Democratic-run cities show that the Democratic Party’s indulgent policy has emboldened criminals, leaving the Asian American community in a difficult situation.
He noted that Asian Americans came forward in San Francisco’s recall earlier this year, successfully removing the radical District Attorney. Although Democrats have abandoned Asian Americans and allowed the wave of violent crime to develop recklessly. Republicans, however, support law enforcement and hold criminals accountable.
According to the San Francisco police, at about 5 p.m. on July 31, the Central Station Police Station received a call reporting a robbery in the 100 block of San Francisco Street. When the police arrived at the scene, the 70-year-old Asian victim, Old Lady Ren, told the police that she was standing in front of the apartment door when four teenage suspects approached her and tried to talk. Due to the language barrier, she did not know what the suspects were talking about. When she turned around and entered the apartment lobby, the suspect followed her into the apartment, attacking her near the elevator, robbing her of her belongings. Old Lady Ren was taken to a local hospital after being injured, but fortunately she was not in a critical condition.
Evan Lowe’s Rebuttal in Chinese
民主黨全力對抗反亞裔種族歧視
加州眾議員羅達倫
2022年8月20日世界日報新聞報導「惡少劫財暴打任婆婆視頻曝光 仇亞犯罪場面令人髮指」，文中引
用共和黨全國委員會亞裔媒體主任瓊森斯 (Nainoa Johsens) 評論。瓊森斯指民主黨對付犯罪軟弱
無力，造成罪犯更加膽大妄為。瓊森斯另提及最近罷免舊金山檢察長事件，批評民主黨須對最近反
裔亞仇恨犯罪負責，同時聲言共和黨、亞裔社區立場一致，聯合對抗反裔亞裔仇恨。無論從全國、加
州、與地方角度觀察，瓊森斯所言遠離真實。
前共和黨總統川普常言：「民主黨治理之下 … 較之過去，更加放縱罪犯 …。」新冠疫情爆發後，川普
經常使用「中國病毒」(China Ｖirus) 或「功夫流感」(Kung Flu) 用語來歸罪華裔與亞裔社區，或轉移其
處理疫情無能風評。川普鼓吹反亞裔措辭，全國共和黨跟從持續使用，美國反亞裔仇恨暴力急遽飆
升。
亞裔民主黨議員領導下，國會亞太裔小組立即警告此類歧視用語勢必惡化反亞裔仇恨事端，川普全
然不予理睬，將反亞裔仇恨擴大成為普遍社會現象。2020年聯邦眾議院投票表決譴責反亞裔歧視決
議案時，民主黨全數投贊成票，164名共和黨國會眾議員投下反對票，贊成譴責反亞裔歧視共和黨員
僅有14人。民主黨總統拜登2021年簽署通過代表紐約民主黨眾議員孟昭文 (Grace Meng) 與代表夏
威夷民主黨參議員廣野慶子 (Mazie Hirono) 所提新冠仇恨犯罪法案 (the COVID-19 Hate Crimes
Act)。之前全案於聯邦眾議院表決時，得到民主黨全數支持，62名共和黨聯邦眾議員投反對票。民主
黨拜登政府最近宣布撥款4950萬元計畫，加強家暴性侵害受害人服務，特別協助英語能力有限的亞
裔民眾。
反亞裔仇恨事端一爆發，加州民主黨員全神對抗。加州亞裔民主黨州議員包括邦塔 (Rob Bonta)、邱
信福 （David Chiu) 、潘君達 (Richard Pan) 、丁右立 (Phil Ting)與我全力領導，推動通過歷史性的
「亞太裔平等預算」(API Equity Budget) ，預算總金額高達1億6650萬元，這是加州史上有關處理反
亞裔仇恨事端與促進族裔平等最大一筆投資。值得一提的是，這筆歷史性投資沒有得到加州議會共
和黨支持。
亞太裔平等預算基金中，1億1000萬元撥給提供服務，協助仇恨犯罪受害人組織。4550萬元撥予學
校處理種族歧視問題，包括設立反仇恨熱線、確保反亞裔仇恨數據正確追蹤。1000萬元撥予少數族
裔媒體，加強媒體服務亞裔與其他少數族裔社區。著名華文媒體如洛杉磯世界日報、舊金山星島日
報、天下衛視、老中新聞即為第一輪少數族裔媒體資助一些受贈者。
另由八位加州民主黨參議員、眾議員組成的亞太裔立法小組 (Asian American & Pacific Islander
Legislative Caucus, AAPILC) 繼續領導推動反仇恨犯罪立法，其中包括AB 2448法案，規定商業機
構訓練員工偵測、傳報種族歧視行為，以及 SB 1161法案，加強公共交通乘客安全，避免遭遇仇恨事
端侵擾。
另與瓊森斯所言相反，地方層級方面，亞裔民主黨領導最近促成罷免舊金山檢察長博徹思 (Chesa
Boudin)。罷免博徹斯選戰主席蔣美琴 (Mary Jung) 是華裔婦女，也是前舊金山民主黨主席。另一位
罷免選戰主要領導為刑事檢察官湯曉慧 (Nancy Tung)。她也是舊金山民主黨民選領導。舊金山民主
黨選民佔壓倒性多數。絕大多數選民，包括亞裔民主黨員在內，投票罷免博徹思。
身為第四代華裔，我的哥哥擔任聖荷西警官工作。我推出一系列支持加州警力法案，榮譽當選加州
警長協會 (the California Police Chiefs Association) 與加州保安官員研究協會 (Peace Officers
Research Association of California, PORAC) 年度議員。我深信支持警力改革與提供執法資源並不
相互排斥，兩者相輔相成。我們可立法支持保護我們身家安全的榮譽警官。
美國民眾於川普時代習慣聽信錯誤訊息。他的共和黨同路人繼續製造謊言稱民主黨不關心公眾安全
，不關心反亞仇恨犯罪。不要去相信這些謊言
World Journal Article in Chinese
惡少劫財暴打任婆婆視頻曝光 仇亞犯罪場面令人髮指
仇恨亞裔暴力事件仍然層出不窮。舊金山灣區華人任婆婆遭四惡少劫財暴打，公寓監控視頻曝光引起華人、亞裔社區和全國震撼。四嫌已有三人被捕歸案，一嫌在逃，亞裔社區和共和黨呼籲，依法嚴懲不貸，決不輕縱放虎歸山。
居住在舊金山北岸區公寓的任婆婆來自中國內蒙，7月31日下午，4名少年以問時間為由，盯上了任婆婆隨身攜帶的手表和手機，在搶劫的過程中還毆打她，導致她全身多處受傷，臥床不起。四名少年嫌犯分別為18歲、14歲、13歲和11歲，目前其中一名14歲嫌犯仍在逃。
公開的視頻畫面顯示，四個惡少完全沒有一點人性，他們將任婆婆打倒在地，還回頭抬腳踢向一個 70 歲老奶奶的頭部，雖然她已經倒地。沒有任何理由可以為少年暴徒開脫，諸如「誤入歧途的年輕人」也無法接受。
在17日的開庭審理中，此案中唯一的成年嫌犯摩爾（Darryl Moore）被控多項重罪，包括搶劫、襲擊、虐待老人、入室搶劫等罪名，但並未提出仇恨犯罪的指控。
共和黨全國委員會（RNC）亞裔媒體主任Nainoa Johsens指出，民主黨治下城市反亞裔犯罪失控，最近在幾個民主黨管理的城市發生的反亞裔暴力犯罪表明，民主黨的寛容政策讓犯罪分子更加膽大妄為，讓亞裔美國人社區陷入困境。
他指出，亞裔美國人在今年早些時候的舊金山罷免事件中挺身而出，成功罷免了激進派檢察長。雖然，民主黨人拋棄了亞裔美國人，任由這股暴力犯罪浪潮肆無忌憚地發展。但是，共和黨人支持執法並追究罪犯的責任。
據舊金山警方說明，7月31日下午約5時，中央車站警分局接獲San Francisco街100號街區發生搶劫案報警。當警察趕到現場時，70歲的亞裔受害人任婆婆告訴警察，她當時站在公寓門前，有四名青少年嫌犯走近她試圖交談，由於語言障礙，她不知道嫌疑人在說什麼。當任婆婆轉身進入公寓大廳時，嫌疑人跟隨進入公寓，在靠近電梯間的位置對她進行人身攻擊，搶走了她隨身財物。任婆婆受傷後被送往當地醫院，所幸沒有生命危險。
AsAmNews is incorporated in the state of California as Asian American Media, Inc, a non-profit with 501c3 status. Check out our Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story, or making a tax-deductible financial contribution. We are committed to the highest ethical standards in journalism. Please report any typos or errors to info at AsAmNews dot com