Lunar New Year should be a time of celebration for Asians around the world. This year it was turned into a tragedy after America’s latest mass shooting took place Saturday night in Monterey Park, a strongly Asian American community in Los Angeles County, California. A gunman shot dozens of people in a ballroom on the eve of the New Year after a day of festivals in the city, killing 11 and injuring others, before later dying by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It is only January, and this is already the 33rd mass shooting in 2023 in America.
His motivation is still being investigated, but police have preliminarily identified the shooter as a member of the local Asian American community.
This latest mass shooting is a stark reminder of the real consequences of America’s gun crisis, and, even though the motive behind the crime does not so far appear to be racism, the tragedy compounds the trauma Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have faced during these last few years of rising…
Read the full article here
