City leaders and Asian-American communities are mobilizing to protect Lunar New Year celebrations across the country after two separate mass shootings in California.
Organizers in San Francisco, which is home to the oldest Chinatown district in the US, plan to press ahead with their annual parade in an effort to show resilience, said Harlan Wong, the director of the city’s Chinese New Year Festival & Parade. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said her city’s festivities would be observed “in solidarity” with those affected by the weekend attack in Monterey Park, California. The New York City Police Department increased its presence at celebrations in Chinatown on Sunday, while the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said security at any Lunar New Year event was a “top priority.”
A gunman opened fire during a Lunar New Year celebration at a dance studio in Monterey Park on Saturday, killing 11 people. In a separate incident two days later, another gunman killed seven people at two farms in a coastal city in Northern California. Los Angeles County authorities have not determined the motive in the Monterey Park shooting rampage, where the suspected attacker died by suicide. The Half Moon Bay incident is believed to be a case of workplace violence, according to San Mateo County law enforcement officers. Both suspects are of Asian descent, according to authorities.
