A Trend of Wrongful Prosecutions

Hear from Professor Xiaoxing Xi, August 9-11 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine



Recently, the U.S. government has wrongfully prosecuted several Chinese American scientists with espionage-related crimes, including Professor Xiaoxing Xi of Temple University.

These American citizens were widely labeled as spies for China before the government dropped all charges with no explanation, apology, or compensation. Their cases highlight a trend of overzealous targeting of Asian Americans in the name of national security, something these Chinese American scientists share with Muslim Americans post-9/11 and Japanese Americans during World War II.

Most of these recent cases have arisen in the Midwest and East Coast, but from August 9-11, Professor Xi will be making special appearances in California to raise awareness of this case and the broader issue of scapegoating specific immigrant communities due to economic or national security concerns.

Man charged in hate crime assault with metal pipe

Christopher Qu arrested for attacking an African American man and his teenage brother.



What the hell. In Irvine, California, a 24-year-old man was arrested last week for committing a hate crime after assaulting an African American man and using racial slurs against his teenage brother.

Man with Metal Pipe Arrested for Hate Crime in front of Irvine High School: Cops

On Wednesday, the 16-year-old Irvine High School student was waiting for his brother to pick him up after sports practice. As the teen's 24-year-old brother drove up the school, the student was approached by Christopher Qu, who was carrying a metal pipe.

According to Irvine police, Qu -- who neither of the brothers knew -- began saying racial slurs and aggressively walking toward the teen. The student's brother got out of his car to intervene, but he was head-butted by Qu and struck several times with the pipe.

What's going on here? Video captures possible elder abuse at Irvine shopping center

I don't have much information about this, but this video, uploaded to YouTube almost two months ago, has recently been making the rounds on social networks. If what it's alleging is true, it's pretty damn disturbing...

Folks who frequent the UCI Town Center in Irvine, California might be familiar with an elderly Asian woman in a wheelchair named "Cathy" who regularly panhandles at the shopping center well into the late hours of the evening. Who is she? What's her story? She claims she's homeless, and most people have left it at that.

However, according to the person who shot this video, Cathy's situation is apparently part of some kind of scam, perhaps even involving elder abuse, because she is dropped off and picked up at the UCI Town Center every day by her adult son, who drives a Toyota Prius. This video allegedly catches him in the act:

Chick-fil-A cashier names customers "Ching" and "Chong"

UC Irvine students find racial slurs on their fast food receipts.



Several folks have sent this my way... If you need more reason not to like Chick-fil-A, check out this Tumblr post about some UC Irvine students' -- who happen to be Asian -- recent visit to the fast food chain.

Take a good look at those receipts. The cashier, identified as "Lia," did not ask for their names when she took their orders, but apparently took it upon herself to provide these Asian customers with names of her own invention: