Between 2020 and 2025, Asian Minnesotans have endured an unprecedented wave of violence, harassment, and racial profiling—from pandemic scapegoating and organized crime to aggressive deportation actions. Throughout this crisis, Asian Media Access has led Minnesota’s Stop Anti-Asian Hate campaign (https://www.amamedia.org/stop-anti-asian-hate/), building a strong social media presence; providing community training through Bicultural Healthy Living; and hosting outreach tables at hundreds of ethnic holiday celebrations and health fairs statewide — strengthening solidarity, visibility, and resilience across Minnesota’s Asian communities.
Over the past five years, Asian Minnesotans have continued suffering from:
a) COVID-19 Era: Disease Carrier Attacks
-
In St. Paul, delivery men refused to install appliances in an Asian family’s home, explicitly stating “Yes” when asked if it was because they were Asian. Days later in Woodbury, an Asian couple found a threatening note on their door demanding they “take the Chinese virus back to China.” - In Austin, vandals burned “China Virus” into an Asian family’s lawn. An Asian American man’s car in Brooklyn Park was smashed and spray-painted with the same slur. In St. Cloud, an Asian woman was spat on and ordered to leave a grocery store.
- Asian Americans reported being told to maintain 12-foot distances in stores—twice CDC guidelines. A woman plugged her nose at the sight of an Asian shopper. Families feared entering grocery stores due to hostile stares and harassment.
b) Violence Against Our Elders
- At the Green Line Station (University Avenue & Dale Street, St. Paul), an older Asian woman was kicked in the face by a 15-year-old while two other teens filmed and laughed. Despite the viral video, prosecutors ruled there was “insufficient evidence” for hate crime charges.
- A 66-year-old Asian grandfather was threatened with anti-Asian slurs while dropping his grandchild at a school bus stop.
These incidents sparked the formation of the Minnesota Asian Safety Squad, a community-led initiative to protect vulnerable elders.
c) Targeting Cultural Institutions
The Hmong Cultural Center’s windows were shattered during the George Floyd protests in May 2020. Months later, three masked suspects vandalized the Hmong Cultural Center Museum with Patriot Front white supremacist graffiti, covering a Black solidarity mural and destroying a brand-new sign. The museum’s grand opening was delayed for weeks while the community worked to repair the damage.
d) Organized Temple Burglaries
A Romanian national crime ring burglarized at least 16 temples and homes across Minnesota, with losses exceeding $100,000. Perpetrators posed as spiritual seekers wanting meditation instruction, then returned days later to rob the sacred spaces they had scouted.
Notable incidents included:
- Wat Promwachirayan, St. Louis Park: Money stolen, every door broken
- Hindu Society of Minnesota, Maple Grove: Money stolen, members suffered nightmares
- Sri Saibaba Mandir, Chaska: Sacred gold necklaces stolen
Communities described the violations as attacks not just on property, but on spiritual safety and sanctity.
e) Deportation Threats Many Asian Families
Aggressive deportation enforcement has spread fear across many communities, but its impact is especially severe for Southeast Asian refugees, reopening deep trauma and tearing families apart. In one widely reported case, an elderly Hmong man was forcibly removed from his home despite his U.S. citizenship. For families who fled genocide, war, and authoritarian regimes in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam during the 1970s and 1980s, these actions revive memories of state violence and persecution they once escaped.
Throughout Asian Media Access’s “Stop Anti-Asian Hate” campaign, we have posted weekly information and postcards to call for PEACE and RESPECT, and received tremendous community support. More than 250+ drawings have been collected at different events, reflecting how community members find strength and voice through art.
Themes like:
- “We Are All Humans”
- “We Belong Here”
- “Choosing LOVE Over HATE”
- “Together We Are Stronger”
- Many contributors took the opportunity to express their personal experiences with ongoing discrimination, using art to transform trauma into collective witness – expressing resilience and solidarity across generations and cultures.
Asian Media Access is now looking into producing an “anti-bullying documentary” that will feature Asian American Youth testimonies about pandemic-era harassment and school bullying. This documentary will serve as an educational tool for schools, workplaces, and policymakers – making visible the compounding violence Asian Minnesotans face and the community resilience we continue to build. Please check our website https://ww1.amamedia.org/dos_and_donts_resources/ for more resources to support members – Do’s and Don’ts to Protect Everyone.
For more information, please call 612-376-7715 and info@amamedia.org or to support the “Stop Anti-Asian Hate” campaign: https://www.amamedia.org/stop-anti-asian-hate/
