
Asian Americans were already living in fear. The Atlanta-area spa killings feel like a terrifying escalation for them
CNN
A restaurant was spray-painted with the message "Kung flu" in Texas. A travel agency employee in California was nearly blinded. An 84-year-old man from Thailand died after being shoved to the ground during his morning walk.
Many Asian Americans across the United States have been verbally harassed, spat on and injured for months in a "disgusting pattern of hate" that coincides with the Covid-19 pandemic. The killings of eight people, most of them Asian, at three spas in the Atlanta area Tuesday jolted a community already on edge, even as law enforcement has not yet determined a motive. "We don't know if this incident is racially motivated, but you have to understand the deep-seated fear that our community is experiencing," said Cynthia Choi, one of the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition tracking violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
5 things to know for March 16: War with Iran, Oscar winners, Travel chaos, Severe weather, US airmen
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