Assemblyman William Colton (D – Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) speaks out against hate crime on Asian-Americans at a number of rallies. These events were attended by a number of elected officials and community leaders.

“I was honored to attend three events against hate crimes directed toward the Asian community. The first event took place last Friday, where I was asked to chair a zoom meeting discussion on crime against the Asian community sponsored by Dr. Law from the Chinese American Social Services Association, and attended by Captain Tao Commanding Officer of the 62 Pct. and Captain Jackson Cheng of the NYPD Asian Hate Crimes Task Force. The second event I attended was the “Stop Hate Against Asian Americans” Community Vigil and Rally on Sunday, March 21 on 86^th Street in Brooklyn, and another one yesterday at the Golden Imperial Palace Restaurant at a Press Conference called by John Chan and the leaders of many Chinese community organizations. At the Friday event, several community leaders spoke at the zoom event urging people to report to the police even minor forms of hate incidents because we need to have a record of how many occur so we can obtain the resources to fight against these crimes. On Sunday more than 200 people attended a “Stop Hate Against Asian Americans” Vigil for Victims of Anti-Asian Hate and Rally in Solidarity with Asian American Community in Bensonhurst. At the vigil, eight candles were held in memory of the victims of the massacre in Atlanta, Georgia,” Colton stated.

“At all the events that I have attended I spoke out against hate crimes. A hate crime against any group is a crime against all groups and all groups must speak out against hate no matter who it is directed against. Hate not only hurts the person it is directed against, but it damages all of us. Therefore, we not only need our police to protect us. We must call upon all community organizations, and all religious institutions to speak out to their members denouncing hate. Also, all of us, including elected officials, must be careful with our choice of words not to incite people to incidents of hate. We have seen too many examples of public officials who have made remarks about some groups being “privileged” or of getting “too many seats” in schools that sow the seeds of dissension that breed hate incidents. We must work to bring people together, not to divide them,” Colton continued.

“An act of hate against anyone is against everyone. Violence motivated by a person’s origin, religion, gender, or race is especially heinous to all of us. We need to do everything that is in our power to bring these hateful individuals to justice and hold them accountable to the full extent of the law,” Colton added.