Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the creation of a workgroup that will look for ways to counter violence and discrimination against Asian Americans.
The Asian American Hate Crime Workgroup will develop strategies to address and mitigate a rise in crimes and incidents targeting the state’s Asian American community, which faces challenges that Hogan said Friday are “worse than we’ve seen in decades.”
“This workgroup, one of the first of its kind in the country, will be composed of a wide-ranging group of experts and advocates across various disciplines who will be tasked with developing recommendations, strategies, and additional actions that can be taken to address this rise in anti-Asian activity, to prevent acts of violence, and to support victims and witnesses,” Hogan said at a Friday press conference.
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The workgroup will be led by former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur, who is himself Asian American.
“The rise in hate-based incidents and crimes against Asian Americans is particularity painful to me, as I have dedicated much of my career to the service of our country,” Hur said, continuing, “And I am now concerned for my parents’ safety and the safety of other members of my family.”
While the coronavirus pandemic has been difficult for everyone, “Asian Americans have had to deal with an additional crisis, a sharp and alarming rise of racist rhetoric, vitriol, and harassment directed at them simply because of their race, ethnic background, or national origin,” Hogan said.
In Maryland, hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have more than doubled since 2018, Hogan said, noting a 150% nationwide increase in such hate crimes, possibly citing a study released in March by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
“That hits close to home for me and my family,” said Hogan, whose wife is Korean American.
Hogan added that his daughters’ friends and other Asian American associates of his family have been attacked and called racial slurs.
“These are conversations our daughters, saying much like [Hur] said, he was worried about his parents,” Hogan said. “Our kids are worried about their mom.”
In a previous announcement, Hogan said he had ordered state police to increase enhanced visibility patrols in response to the anti-Asian incidents. He made that announcement after visiting several Asian American-owned businesses in Ellicott City that were vandalized in February as the Lunar New Year began.
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Elected officials beyond Maryland are looking for ways to protect Asian Americans amid the rise in hate incidents. A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators in Congress is sponsoring the No Hate Act to improve law enforcement’s ability to investigate hate crimes.
