Anti-Asian hate crimes are scaring Chinese travelers away from the US, as anti-Asian sentiment is on the rise in the country.
On January 26, a 24-year-old Indian man identified by the media as Shikha Sharma, left his home in Long Beach, California, with two bags of groceries and walked to a 7-Eleven where he proceeded to buy soda as well as chocolate milk and candy. He reportedly walked out with over 2,000 dollars.
But when Shikha left the store he was allegedly met with an onslaught of anti-Asian slurs by a group of men who screamed profanities at him in a language he did not understand.
Shikha was then attacked by the men who reportedly stole his money.
As reported by the Long Beach Press-Telegram, one of the women at the store told officers that the suspect began yelling threats and obscenities at her before ordering her to give him all her money.
Once the store personnel gave him exactly what he wanted he allegedly ran out of the store with a bag full of stolen money.
After speaking with witnesses, police arrested Dinesh Patel, 24, and his 19-year-old accomplice. The two men were described as being in the process of stealing from people in Long Beach.
According to police spokesperson Officer Jim Amormino, “The suspects were acting like gangsters. They were targeting people with Asians in Long Beach.”
Patel was charged with two counts of robbery and one count of malicious threat. The two other suspects are charged with one count each of robbery and malicious threats.
This is simply the tip of the iceberg. As The Free Thought Project reported, hate crimes against Asians are on the rise, especially in minority communities.
In 2017, hate crimes against Asian Americans were up more than 150 percent over the year before while hate crimes against Hispanics were up more than 140 percent.
Last year, a hate crime