FLUSHING, NY – Before Monday’s sunset, a few dozen Asian Americans dressed in neon vests and jackets scoured the streets of this New York neighborhood.
They were not policemen. They were students, retailers and retirees equipped with little more than a cell phone, in case they came across someone being harassed or attacked. Their mission: to prevent potential attackers from hurting other Asians, either by calling the police for help or by intervening themselves.
“It made me feel bad,” said volunteer Wan Chen, 37, of the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the country. “So this is the moment when we need to speak up and do our best to help. If someone tries to do something, they might think twice. “
Groups of volunteers like this have sprung up in the United States, patrolling the streets of Asian communities from New York to Oakland, California. They have several goals: to escort security-conscious individuals where they need to go, to check on community members and, if necessary, to intervene if they see someone being harassed.
Cities across the country have seen an increase in hate crimes against Asians since the pandemic began. An analysis conducted by researchers at California State University, San Bernardino, found that hate crimes against Asians in 16 of the largest cities in the U.S. increased by 149% between 2019 and 2020. Over the same period, overall hate crime reports decreased by 7%, the researchers found.