The FBI warned of an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The FBI assesses hate crime incidents against Asian Americans likely will surge across the United States, due to the spread of coronavirus disease … endangering Asian American communities,” an FBI intelligence report said, according to ABC News.
“The FBI makes this assessment based on the assumption that a portion of the U.S. public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations,” it continued.
The analysis was compiled by the FBI’s Houston office and distributed to local law enforcement agencies across the country.
The virus, which was first discovered in China, has been referred to as the “Chinese virus” by President Trump rather than the coronavirus or the COVID-19 virus. Critics say Trump’s phrasing has fueled racism against people of Asian descent.
Trump defended his use of the term “Chinese virus,” arguing it was because the Chinese government was trying to pin the blame on U.S. soldiers.
“They said our soldiers started it. Our soldiers had nothing to do with it,” he told Fox News on Tuesday. “It came from China. I don’t regret it,” he said. “Everyone knows it came out of China, but I decided we shouldn’t make any more of a big deal out of it. I think I made a big deal, I think people understand it.”
In recent days, Trump has shifted away from using the phrasing and condemned the harassment of Asian Americans, who have reported being blamed for the spread of the virus.
“It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world,” he tweeted. “They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form.”
The FBI report did not make any reference to Trump or any other U.S. official who has called it the “Chinese virus.”
The analysis said there has been an increase in reports of hate crimes and listed several incidents across the country.
In a March 14 incident in Midland, Texas, “three Asian American family members, including a 2-year-old and 6-year-old, were stabbed … The suspect indicated that he stabbed the family because he thought the family was Chinese, and infecting people with the coronavirus,” the FBI report said.
