The Asian Pacific Islander Initiative hosted a town hall on Sunday to discuss recent crimes that have impacted the Asian community, and solutions on how to prevent violence moving forward.
The event was held at the San Diego Police Department’s Multicultural Storefront on University Avenue. One of the organizers, JoAnn Fields, who is the government and public relations director with the Asian Pacific Islander Initiative, rallied together community members, elected officials and local business owners to be a part of the discussion.
“We’re going to write the concerns, we’re not just going to talk about it, we’re going to document it and we are going to seek action,” Fields said as two people took notes on pieces of large paper titled “concerns” and “possible solutions.”
Every chair in the room was quickly filled with representatives from various community organizations including America’s Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Pan Asian Communities, among others.
A unity vigil was held in City Heights to mourn the victims lost to gun violence in both Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, NBC 7’s Dana Williams reports.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was also there, alongside State Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber and San Diego Council President Sean Elo-Rivera.
Mayor Todd Gloria spoke to the tone of the moment and said, “When I talk to a lot of our AAPI community leaders, there’s a sense of fear, there’s a lot of concern and there’s a desire to try to understand how we can get past this and get back to something that’s far better than this.”
And, that same desire is what brought many of the town hall’s attendees to the event.
NBC 7’s Amber Frias shows how San Diegans came together Friday Night in Mira Mesa to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
“Unfortunately, violence like this brings us together, because we share that same fear,” said Gil Ontai, one of the attendees at the town…
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