June 21: Police in San Leandro, California, arrested a 25-year-old on Monday on suspicion of vandalizing a neighbor’s home with anti-Asian graffiti, reported yahoo!
“The incident, which occurred over the weekend, saw racist messages spray-painted onto a realtor sign and garage door outside a neighborhood home that was in the process of being sold.
“Nicholas Swyers was arrested without incident at around 1:30 a.m. Monday on suspicion of a hate crime, the San Leandro Police Department said in a press release. Police said Swyers lives on the same block as the home that was targeted. The home was “in the process of being sold,” they said, with the homeowners, realtor and most recent tenants all being of Asian descent.”: yahoo!
“The police department said officers first responded to the scene at around 9 p.m. Saturday and found that the realtor sign had been spray-painted with an anti-Asian slur. They returned at around 7 a.m. Sunday and found the garage door of the same residence had been spray-painted with the same message. The department said evidence uncovered during the execution of a search warrant appeared to link Swyers to the vandalism. “This is an unfortunate reminder that hate and racism do exist,” Lt. Matthew Barajas said.
“The incident comes amid a rise in hate crimes in the U.S., including those targeting the Asian American community. An analysis of hate crime data published earlier this year by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that anti-Asian hate crimes had risen by 339 percent last year compared with the year before.”: yahoo!
In an update of a hate crime incident on the East Coast, a Florida woman is facing hate crime charges after authorities say she berated a group of women with anti-Asian remarks and attacked them with pepper spray in New York City last week.
“The New York Police Department announced Friday that it had arrested Madeline Barker, 47, after the incident, which was partially captured on video.”: The Washington Post. “Barker, of Merritt Island, Fla., was arraigned Saturday on three counts of assault as a hate crime, one count of attempted assault as a hate crime, and four counts of aggravated harassment, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. When shown a still image from the video, Barker admitted to being the woman in the incident, according to the complaint.”