A NEW report has revealed that more than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported across the US since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Guardian reported.
Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that tracks racially motivated hate crimes towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, received 9,081 reports between 19 March 2020 and June this year, the report added.
A total of 4,548 hate crimes occurred in 2020 and another 4,533 occurred in 2021 including harassment, shunning, and physical assault, the coalition said.
According to the report, members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across the US have faced bigotry in the form of verbal harassment and physical attacks soon after Covid-19 was first reported in China.
Of the total incidents reported, 63.7 per cent involved verbal harassment and 16.5 per cent involved shunning – the deliberate avoidance of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. About 13.7 per cent of the reports were of physical assault and Civil rights violations accounted for 11 per cent of the incidents while online harassment made up 8.3 per cent, the coalition report said.
Incidents reported by women made up 63.3 per cent of all reports.
Besides, the number of seniors (60 years or more) reporting hate crimes increased from 6.5 per cent in 2020 to 7.2 per cent in 2021.
Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, told The Guardian: “When you encourage hate, it’s not like a genie in a bottle where you can pull it out and push it back in whenever you want. There’s too much perpetuating these belief systems to make them go away.”
The surge in reporting happened after the 16 March Atlanta spa shootings that left eight people dead, including six Asian women.
In May, Joe Biden signed the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, expediting the justice department’s review of hate crimes and making grants available to help local law enforcement agencies improve their investigation, identification and reporting of racially charged incidents.
Stop AAPI Hate praised the bill but criticised its focus on law enforcement over community-led reform.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)