Story at a glance
- San Francisco experienced a major spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders last year, preliminary police data shows.
- A total of 60 hate crimes against the AAPI community occurred in the city last year.
- San Franscico police chief Bill Scott said one man is believed to be responsible for half of those incidents.
The number of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders skyrocketed last year in San Francisco, police data shows.
Preliminary data from the San Francisco Police Department shows hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders increased by 567 percent in the city last year.
A total of 60 hate crimes against members of the AAPI community occurred last year, a major jump from the nine that took place in 2020, according to the data.
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One man is believed to be responsible for a half of the attacks reported last year, said San Francisco police chief, Bill Scott, during a press conference with the city’s mayor London Breed on Tuesday. Scott said the man was arrested last August.
In response to the alarming numbers, Breed vowed to stand by the city’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community adding that the number of hate crimes is higher.
“We will do everything we can to make those arrests, to hold those perpetrators accountable,” Breed said. “Today as we talk about the statistic and the challenges that are happening, we want to make sure people feel safe, we want to make sure people feel comfortable reporting.”
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