APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – In the wake of a deadly shooting spree, which saw eight people killed at multiple spas in Atlanta this week, local authorities are issuing a reminder about racism and hatred.
Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas released a statement Wednesday to show members of the Asian-American community in the city that the department has their backs.
“We’ve used it several times, usually when we have an incident like this where there’s a a national incident with a certain group appears or is perceived to be targeted,” Thomas told WTAQ News. “We want to make sure that we take an opportunity to get the message out to our community members that hate has no home here, that this isn’t a community that accepts that type of behavior.”
He points out that while the motivation may turn out to be more closely related to a sex addiction than hate, the shootings come on the heels of rising violence against Asian-Americans across the country over the past year.
“If you’re a member of the Asian-American community, it’s impacting you. Whether it was hate-motivated or a sex addiction, they still have that fear,” Thomas explained. “So it’s important that we, as a community, make sure that our community members know that they’re safe here and that we won’t stand for that type of activity or behavior in our community.”
Appleton hasn’t seen overt violence against those groups, but Thomas says it’s clear that hate still exists in their community.
“We know it’s out there. We know that community members that we talk to that are from our Hmong community, Asian-American community, and other communities of color have told us about comments and threats that have been made to them. Frequently, that doesn’t get reported to law enforcement,” Thomas said. “But that’s why it’s so important that when these incidents happen, that we take it as an opportunity to make sure that it’s clear that we’re standing by those groups of community members.”
