OCA Statement Results in Renewed FBI Commitment to Investigating Hate Crimes Against AAPIs

Washington, DC - OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates releases the following statements in response to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classifying an assault against an Asian American family in Midland, TX as a hate crime:

On March 14, 2020, a man attacked an Asian American family with a knife in a Sam’s Club in Midland, Texas in a racially-motivated and COVID-19 related attack. Two members of this family and an employee who stepped in to intervene in the situation were injured. Some community members initially expressed skepticism that this assault was racially-motivated. The suspect later admitted that he attacked the family because he suspected them of spreading COVID-19. OCA commends the FBI for rightly designating this stabbing as a hate crime. OCA also commends the quick action of the Sam’s Club employee who stopped the situation from escalating further.

Due to COVID-19, hate crimes targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have spiked to an alarming level. Because we know that hate crimes are grossly underreported, advocacy organizations and law enforcement agencies expect that the problem is even more dire than it seems. OCA encourages victims and those who witness any harassment or violence related to COVID-19 to report the incident at www.aapihatecrimes.org, a website that tracks hate incidents committed against AAPIs across the country.

On March 23, 2020, OCA released a letter, with the support of over 210 organizations from across the country, calling on the White House, FBI, and Department of Justice (DOJ) to denounce incendiary language around COVID-19 and call for comprehensive action to investigate, process, document, and curb hate crimes around the country. The FBI’s designation of the Texas attack as a hate crime is an important step forward. 

“The FBI assesses hate crime incidents against Asian Americans likely will surge across the United States, due to the spread of the coronavirus disease....endangering Asian American communities...The FBI makes this statement based on the assumption that a portion of the US public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations,” says the report from the FBI’s Houston office, which was distributed to local law enforcement agencies.

“It’s important to see that people like the Sam’s Club employee stand up for our community when we’re under attack,” said Ken Lee, CEO of OCA. “The FBI designation that this COVID-19-motivated assault is a hate crime means that our work does not go unnoticed; but we have more to do to have justice and to ensure Asian Americans feel safe again during this pandemic.”

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).

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