The suspects in both shootings were later revealed to be Asian men, diminishing fears that the attacks were hate crimes, but advocates say the violence adds to the dread that Asian Americans have experienced the past several years.
“The race of the attacker did not change how deeply Asian Americans have felt about being under threat, or experiencing a lack of safety,” Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and the executive director of the AAPI Equity Alliance, told Insider. “We know that this is not a hate crime in the traditional sense, but it does feel that these community members were targeted and that race played a role.”
Despite this, media outlets and pundits have brought up the race of the Monterey Bay shooter to dismiss fears of violence that the Asian American community faces, Insider’s Yoonji Han wrote.
