VOL 39 NO 36 | SEPTEMBER 5 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

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PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA

VOL 39 NO 36 SEPTEMBER 5 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 FREE 38 YEARS YOUR VOICE

Andrew Yang

Yuh-Line Niou

Tommy Le shooting investigation had “serious gaps”

Family lawyer contends KCSO cover-up

Photo by John Liu

Stand Up for AAPI Youth hopes to combat COVID-related racism Hudson Yang

Dien Ho, Tommy Le's mother, addresses the media on Sept. 2 at ACRS with the help of a translator. Husband Hoai Le (on Ho's right) also made some remarks. Laura Talmu

Sarah Wan

Melissa Lee

Phil Ting

Sharon Tomiko Santos

By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY “If you are an AAPI youth, we have your back.” That’s the message from Laura Talmus, cofounder of Beyond Differences, at an Aug. 26 news conference to promote Stand Up for AAPI Youth. In response to the sharp increase in racist

David Chiu

and hate incidents towards Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students in the United States since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, Beyond Differences has partnered with San Francisco’s Community Youth Center (CYC) to create Stand Up for AAPI Youth, a free curriculum for schools this fall. Youth leaders kicked off the conference by see AAPI YOUTH on 12

Public art murals slashed Photo provided by Sound Transit

Suspected racially motivated act

Mural installation in Federal Way as park of the Federal Way Link Extension construction on Aug. 21, 2020.

FEDERAL WAY — Vandals slashed dozens of temporary public art murals that were recently installed at the construction site of downtown Federal Way’s future light rail station. The murals include numerous depictions of people of color and the damage is suspected to have been racially motivated. The slashed murals, which through

collaboration with community groups were recently installed on the outside of construction fencing, include works by local artists Jasmine Iona Brown, Lauren Iida, Toka Valu, Tiffanny Hammonds, Sabah Al-Dhaher, and barry johnson. see PUBLIC ART MURALS on 12

By Ruth Bayang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Shot in the back and killed, just hours before his high school graduation. An outside review of the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO)’s handling of the Tommy Le shooting investigation said it found “serious gaps.” Le, 20, was shot and killed by a King County deputy in 2017. “I miss my son so much,” Le’s mother Dien Ho said

through a translator at Sept. 2 news conference at ACRS. “He was such a good boy and never caused any trouble.” “It’s been a long three years and a half for our family,” said Hoai Le, the victim’s father. “A piece of my heart is gone.” Deputy Cesar Molina said he believed that Le was armed with a deadly weapon and that Le had already attacked someone with a knife. Turns out that Le had only a plastic pen. Jeff Campiche, an attorney see LE on 4

New ICE head Tony Pham criticized by Asian American groups A California-based community organization that advances social justice and builds power with working class Vietnamese and immigrant communities, urged Tony Pham to close Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s migrant prison camps, if Pham “has any loyalty left to refugees.” On Aug. 25, the Department of Homeland Security named Pham as the new leader of ICE. Pham is the top attorney at ICE in his role as principal legal adviser. He was born in Saigon and came to the United States as a refugee in the 1970s, according to his government biography. Pham became a U.S.

Tony Pham

citizen in 1985, following a decade in the country. “When we came to this nation see PHAM on 10

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