North Texas Asian community advocates renew calls to label Allen shooting a hate crime

One year after the tragic shooting in Allen, advocates for the Asian American community are still calling on Texas authorities to address rising gun violence and label the shooting a hate crime.

At least half of the eight people killed in the shooting at Allen Premium Outlets were Asian, including 26-year old Aishwarya Thatikonda, who had immigrated from India, and the Korean American Cho family, whose six-year old son, William, was the only surviving member.

The shooter, Mauricio Garcia, had previously shown signs of an extremist ideology through social media posts and neo-Nazi tattoos.

On Monday, eight advocacy organizations released a joint statement addressing the one-year anniversary of the shooting.

“Despite authorities finding that the gunman held Neo-Nazi ideology and targeted a location with a large AAPI population, Texas government leadership has failed to acknowledge the role of racism and refused to pass legislation preventing further gun violence,” the statement reads.

The groups — including Asian Texans for Justice and the Dallas Asian American Historical Society — are calling on Texas leaders to label the shooting a hate crime, further invest in community violence prevention and reintroduce legislation in the next session to raise the legal age of purchasing a semi-automatic weapon to 21 after attempts last year failed.