An Asian-owned convenience store in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been razed by a man who used a metal stick and shouted racial insults
CHARLOTTE: An Asian convenience store in Charlotte, North Carolina, was destroyed by a man carrying a metal stick and shouted racial insults, according to police and a son of the store’s owners.
Surveillance footage shows a man pulling a rack of goods on the floor and rotating a signpost on the glass of refrigerators. A man who appears to a friend of the attacker animates him.
The attack took place on Tuesday at a store called Plaza Sundries, located in the city center, near the main traffic center in Charlotte. And he falls as a result of an attack on a woman of Asian descent in New York City and the deadly attack of eight people on three massage parlors in the Atlanta area. Six of these victims were women of Asian descent.
Despite increased attention to these attacks, violence and racially charged language were nothing new, said Mark Sung, whose parents own the store, and his wife Grace Lee Sung.
“When my husband got the call (about the attack), it was like a routine,” Lee Sung said. “It was like,” okay, check out the mess. See surveillance. File the report (police). “
The pandemic has fueled tension, the couple said, and some people blamed the coronavirus on store owners. They have lived in the United States for decades since they moved from South Korea.
“It’s like,‘ Hey, you’re different, ’Lee Sung said, offering a disinfected summary of the insults.” ‘Obviously, you can’t be from here. Return to your country. “
But the owners have experienced a different feeling in the days following the attack: a woman came to the store and gave them soup. A pizza delivery man with five cakes appeared. A local doctor left a check. More than $ 30,000 has been raised through GoFundMe to cover store damage.
“My in-laws are more surprised that people really care than the attack (”), Lee Sung said. “And it took them a while to process why they were getting so much attention.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said a company responsible for security at the traffic center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, The Charlotte Observer reported. According to public records, he was arrested for theft with a dangerous weapon, communicating threats, disorderly conduct, personal property injuries and resisting a public officer. It is unclear whether he has hired a lawyer who can comment on his behalf.
According to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased by 150% during the pandemic.
The outpouring of support for store owners makes them “feel listened to,” Lee Sung said of his in-laws.
“My mother-in-law can’t stop crying every time someone says, ‘I’m so sorry for what’s going on,'” she said.
But the family is still careful to move forward.
“She’s also scared because she’s not used to all that attention,” Mark Sung said of his mother. “So she’s a little nervous. … We try to be careful. “