Protest Held Against Anti Asian-Hate

“Actions for Asians, Stop Asian hate, share human love, safe for all.”

Last Friday, the UW-Madison Asian student community organized a protest and rally against Asian hate. They marched from the state capitol to library mall, and the whole protest lasted for two hours. 

One of the protest organizers made her point:

 “The first protest is more target to the public to let people realize that there there three Asian UW-Madison students attacked on the campus areas. Asian people will feel more inclusive because there are a lot of local people and a lot of minority people, they come here and make some voice for Asian people together. We stand together. Hopefully UW will pay more attention to the Asian students’ rights and also minority students’ rights.”

“This rally is really starting to make everyone aware what’s happening.  The protest is being wonderfully, it’s being one of the calm and collected protest that I’ve ever seen. It’s opening arms and that’s this all about diversity between barriers of cultures that people started to pick up. Madison is made for that and that’s what we for. 

And that’s what I’m here for because I want to make a change, I want to make differences, ” said Cody Neuburg, another participant who has lived in Madison for over thirty years. 

Li Jiang is about to start his senior year at UW-Madison.

“After all things happened, after all these voices, things must be changed. People speak out their voices, telling their attitudes and opinions, and that matters. “

Four suspects were arrested on Saturday in connection with the attack, and police say they’re still investigating this assault as well as two others that have happened in the downtown area in the last two weeks. 

Madison police say  they do not believe the assaults to be racially-motivated, and appear to be random, but some students and community members are pushing back on that. 

More than 300 students, staff, and faculty, as well as more than 75 alumni and more than a dozen student groups, have sent a statement to the UW-Madison administration  including police chief Kristen Roman, interim chancellor John Scholz, and UW-System President Jay Rothman. 

In the letter, campus community members criticize UW-Madison administration for not doing more to support Asian students. The letter urges local law enforcement to investigate the case more thoroughly, fairly, and swiftly. It And it calls on the administration to work towards a more systemic solution to preventing similar attacks, and to develop a mandatory DEI course for students. A change.org petition with similar demands has received more than two thousand signatures. 

Yesterday,  at an emergency meeting of UW-Madison’s student government, the Associated Students of Madison (or ASM)  unanimously passed a message of support for Asian students’ safety on campus. In that message, ASM took issue with the  university administration’s dismissive attitude in some of their responses, and demanded an apology. 

The message also calls on law enforcement officials to not prosecute the alleged attackers with a hate crime because of their minor status. It, and to recommends that the suspected attackers they receive mandatory education on APIDA history and community service sentences if convicted. It also urges the Madison Police Department to investigate more, but refrain from using overly confrontational or invasive interrogation techniques on minors. 

UW-Madison officials say they’re offering mental health services for Asian and APIDA students experiencing distress, trauma, or safety concerns about the attacks. 

Students are planning an APIDA-led protest for this Friday, the 24th, from 4-6pm downtown.

In an email to the campus community this afternoon, UW–Madison Interim Chancellor Scholz described that Madison police had described more about the victims of two other attacks believed to be related. In it, the Chancellor wrote “another incident of battery occurred downtown on June 12 that involved a white male with no connection to campus and a Hispanic male undergraduate student who went to the hospital for his injuries.”