AAPI community leaders seek solutions following recent shootings in

Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay

by KLARIZE MEDENILLA AJPress

CALIFORNIA’S vast Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has been wrought with multiple tragedies: the Lunar New Year party massacre on Jan. 21 that killed 11 people and injured others and the Jan. 23 Half Moon Bay shooting that killed seven people.

Most of the victims of these two murderous rampages were Asian Americans and members of the Hispanic community, but there continues to be little to no clear explanations for what led to these tragedies.

With the proximity of these attacks and the widely celebrated Lunar New Year, the Asian American community is on high alert, especially as it tries to move on from wrongly being placed in the crosshairs of racist violence and harassment during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gloria Pan, Senior Vice President, National Member Engagement, Campaign Innovations & Gun Control at MomsRising, said in a national press briefing, “This was a horrific intrusion on one of our most cherished holidays” and that following the string of anti-Asian attacks, the Asian American community is “feeling more unsafe than ever.”

The many families of these victims are still healing and reeling from the sudden deaths of their loved ones, most of whom were in the coveted twilight years of their lives. Seeking solutions or pondering what could have been done to prevent these tragedies won’t bring back their loved ones, but it’s crucial to prevent these kinds of attacks from happening, Pan said.

It’s important to point out that it is unclear if the motivations behind these murders were related to any hate crime, as defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, in the way that the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings were.

Investigators of the Monterey Park massacre have yet to confirm a motive for the shootings; the shooter killed himself the following day.

A Half Moon Bay prosecutor told reporters that the shooter may have snapped after he was forced to pay $100 to repair a forklift he damaged at work and

China says US actions ‘escalate regional...

agenda of the U.S.”

The embassy said that such moves go against the common aspiration of regional nations to achieve “peace, cooperation and development, and run counter to the common aspiration of the Filipino people to pursue sound economic recovery and a better life in cooperation with China.”

The embassy hoped that the Philippines will remain vigilant amid the developments.

“It is hoped that the Philippine side stays vigilant and resists from being taken advantage of and dragged into trouble waters,” it said.

During Austin’s visit, the Philippines and U.S. agreed to have four new additional Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) sites in the archipelago.

The Philippine Department of National Defense said that the “expansion of the Edca will make our alliance stronger and more resilient and will accelerate the modernization of our combined military capabilities.”