Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Following attacks on the Asian-American community in various parts of the Bay Area, the chairman of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is seeking to make the area a "zero tolerance zone" against racism and xenophobia.
In an interview with KPIX5Supervisor David Canepa said he plans to introduce a bill Tuesday "condemning hate crimes against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community to establish the county as a zero tolerance zone against these attacks, from Daly City to Menlo Park.
This Tuesday, Santa Clara County will discuss a similar proposal, bringing several counties in line to banish hate crimes and attacks against the community that has been scourged since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are all aligned and want to make sure we do not tolerate this in our county. We can no longer simply sit and listen to our Asian American friends and neighbors tell these ongoing stories of how they are victims of violent and racist hate crimes: we must take swift and definitive action to stop the hate through bold policies."
It's worth remembering that two days after the shootings at a spa in metro Atlanta that left six Asian women dead, a 69-year-old woman was attacked and robbed in a Daly City neighborhood.
The bill, which could pass Tuesday, would encourage investigators to consider motives for hate crimes.
KPIX5 detailed that the incident in Daly City left Anna Louie in shock, as, now, her trips abroad are filled with fear and anxiety about a possible attack.
Pastor Alesana Eteuati of the First Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa in Daly City said her 200-member congregation lives in fear.
"I pray for you to change your attitude, change your thinking and change your actions towards others. Embrace other people," Eteuati said as a message to those who wish to cause harm in the county and elsewhere.
Canepa will present the bill at today's board of supervisors meeting and the board is expected to hold a final vote on April 5.
