Since last Saturday (July 13th), when former President Trump was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, New York state legislators, Chinese community leaders, and candidates from different districts have all condemned political violence and called for upholding American democratic values by electing new leaders through voting.
On July 15th, during a press conference held at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, State Assemblyman Lester Chang from the 49th District in Brooklyn also stated, “I condemn political violence,” advocating for ensuring that every American has the right to vote and elect new leaders through voting, rather than through violent means like shootings.
Democratic Party Leader of the 65th District, Yu Jinshan, released a statement on the day of Trump’s injury strongly condemning “acts of political violence” and expressing condolences to the victims. He said, “Fair elections represent the democratic values of America established for over two hundred years. Violent election as a campaign platform is unacceptable to all American citizens.”
Chu Chaoran, the chairman of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years and has been deployed to overseas battlefields for extended periods, expressed on the 15th that he fights for the voting rights of every American so that they can express their opinions and concerns through the ballot box, not by using rifles on rooftops. He called for promoting “unity as a nation, as a people, as a group with common goals.”
Retired military veteran and former police chief Steve Chan, who is running for New York State Senate in the 17th District, and Vito LaBella, who is running for New York State Senate in the 26th District in Brooklyn, also strongly denounced gun violence during the press conference.
Furthermore, following the violent incident involving former President Trump, The New York Post promptly reported the related news. However, initially, they wrongly identified the suspect who shot at former President Trump as a person of Chinese descent. Despite later correcting the shooter to be a white person, this action raised concerns among the aforementioned Chinese community leaders and candidates about the reputation and safety of Chinese people. They also demanded that the newspaper issue a formal apology and take appropriate action.