Police Slammed for Changing Course on Hate Crime Status of Korean Shooting

The Dallas Police Chief is under fire for prematurely reporting that the shooting of three Korean women at a salon was not a hate crime, but later backtracked his comment saying the incident “could be hate-motivated.”

On Wednesday, a man walked entered an Asian-run business and fired multiple rounds, shooting three Korean women. All victims suffered non-fatal injuries.

At the time, police said they had no evidence of the incident being a hate crime, but after reviewing related incidents, believe it could be connected to two other recent shootings of Asian-run businesses.

Unfortuanately, anti-Asian hate crimes are on the rise nationwide. Just a few months ago, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said his office’s Hate Crimes Unit is prosecuting more hate crimes involving anti-Asian incidents than it has since the task force launched more than a decade ago. And on the other coast, a San Francisco man was charged with hate crimes after targeting Asian-owned businesses with a slingshot.

One survey showed that perceptions of Asian Americans “are worsening in the U.S.,” LAAUNCH (Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change) said in a recent tweet.