Press Release

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) stands in solidarity with communities across the country protesting against police violence and the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

For too many decades, communities of color have been the targets of racist violence. Structural racism has laid the foundation for police brutality, corruption, and bias, and it now lays bare the ideology of white supremacy that undervalues and divides our communities.

Peaceful protesters across the country have joined in unified calls for racial justice and police accountability. Some individuals unrelated to these protests have engaged in looting and property damage, such as smashing windows and burning wooden stalls outside small businesses in Manhattan’s Chinatown. These indefensible actions must not divert our attention from seeking justice for George Floyd and the prosecution of all four officers responsible for his death.

One of AALDEF’s earliest cases in 1975 was the defense of protesters beaten by NYPD officers as they rallied to support Peter Yew, an innocent bystander who had complained to police about their mishandling of a minor traffic accident in Chinatown. Since then, we have won lawsuits on behalf of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Pakistani New Yorkers who were victims of police brutality and secured a settlement for the family of a Chinese American teenager in Brooklyn who was fatally shot in the head by NYPD officers. Too many Black, Latinx, and Asian Americans have lost their lives because of police misconduct, and this must change now.

Black Lives Matter, and Asian Americans will remain part of the collective fight to end racist and illegal policing practices that harm our communities.

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For more information, contact:
Stan Mark, Senior Staff Attorney
smark@aaldef.org
212.966.5932 x204

Margaret Fung, Executive Director
mfung@aaldef.org
212.966.5932 X201