Hundreds Gather For Stop Asian Hate Rally In Andover

ANDOVER, MA — Hundreds of people gathered in Andover Saturday morning for a Stop Asian Hate rally organized following the March 16 shootings at three Atlanta-area spas in which six Asian women were killed.

Organizer Yuantai Du said the rally was very successful.

"About 500 people stretched on Main Street for half a mile (social distancing)," Du said. "So many people and cars showed support, we were very moved!"

The Saturday rally followed another rally Friday, which State Rep. Tram Nguyen attended, the Andover Townsman reported.

Earlier in March, Nguyen introduced a bill aimed at combatting hate crimes with Attorney General Maura Healey and State Senator Adam Hinds which would "consolidate two existing laws into one, clarify the definition of what constitutes a hate crime, and establish proportional penalties based on the severity of the crime," according to a news release.

“Hate crimes are hugely underreported nationally, and the protections in Massachusetts are far weaker than in several other states," said Rep. Nguyen. "We need to modernize our statutes to ensure that we can hold perpetrators accountable, which will also give vulnerable communities the confidence to come forward and report these crimes."

The bill, introduced prior to the Georgia shooting spree, was aimed particularly at protecting people of Asian descent.

"This reform protects vulnerable communities from violent bigotry, which is on the rise,
particularly against people of Asian descent since the outbreak of Covid-19," according to the release.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.