Nationwide — Aki Maehara, a 71-year-old Japanese American professor who teaches about racism at East Los Angeles School in Los Angeles, California, was critically injured after being hit by a automobile in a doable hate crime. The driving force shouted racial slurs earlier than fleeing, and police are nonetheless investigating.
On April 29, round 10 p.m., Maehara was using his electrical bike close to his residence in Montebello when a sedan got here straight at him. Simply earlier than the crash, he heard somebody shout slurs in opposition to folks of Chinese language descent. The collision threw him via a yard and right into a brick wall.
Maehara, a Vietnam Conflict veteran, suffered critical accidents to his face, hips, elbows, and decrease again. To keep away from pricey ambulance charges, he known as associates to take him to the VA hospital in Lengthy Seashore.
He believes he was focused, presumably as a result of he wears a full-face helmet that hides his look. It additionally wasn’t the primary time he has skilled threats or harassment.
This wasn’t the primary time Maehara confronted hostility. “There’s an extended historical past. They’ve picketed my classroom at East L.A. School. Chicano Republicans got here after me and picketed me at Cal State Lengthy Seashore,” he advised The LA Instances. “The KKK got here to my classroom in Cal State Lengthy Seashore once I was educating a course on the U.S. Vietnam Conflict. This isn’t the primary time I’ve been focused.”
Pals began a GoFundMe to assist cowl the price of his residence well being care. It has thus far raised over $55,000.
Montebello police haven’t made any arrests and say they haven’t discovered safety footage of the incident. The investigation is ongoing.
Regardless of his accidents, Maehara returned to his classroom with simply 4 weeks left within the semester. In response to his pal, he didn’t need to abandon his college students.
