United States: CFWIJ condemns the verbal attack on journalist Alyssa Hui

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April 22, 2021, Springfield - Asian-American journalist Alyssa Hui was targeted while she was filming a news segment by a man who hurled abuses at her from his car. The attack was entirely unprovoked, and while no racial slurs were uttered, Hui mentioned that she was the only one of her team members who was targeted. Hui took to Twitter with videos of the incident to speak about the experience.

On April 14, when Alyssa Hui, who is a correspondent for WICS and Fox Illinois, tweeted about the verbal abuse she was targeted with while on the field. Hui, who was preparing for a live news segment, was attacked entirely unprovoked by a man who screamed profanities at her and told her to leave “his block”. According to Hui, the man got out of his car and started questioning the nature of the news and what she was doing in the locality, while constantly using abusive language. When Hui took out her camera to record the incident, since she was scared of what might happen, he brazenly told her that he is unconcerned if she filmed him in the act.

Although the man did not use any racially abusive language, Hui could not help but notice that she was the only one who was targeted out of the entire crew. Attacks on Asian-American journalists is nothing new. The hate fostered by Donald Trump’s presidency has made the community extremely vulnerable to violent, racist attacks. This became especially apparent during a racially motivated attack on the Asian-American community in Atlanta last month. Over the past two years specially, The Coalition For Women In Journalism has documented several attacks on Asian-American journalists. The kind of hate that the White House encouraged towards the community under the Trump administration can take years to undo, as was evident in the treatment of Carolyn Sung who was apprehended by the police while covering the protest demonstrations against the killing of Daunte Wright.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned about the rising racial hatred in the United States of America. The police should thoroughly investigate the event to find out if the attack on Alyssa Hui was racially motivated. And even if that is not the case, it does not take away from the fact that women journalists continued to be needlessly targeted on the field. Authorities should ensure the safety of journalists who are women of color, since they are vulnerable on two fronts to societal biases.