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Hmong woman killed in hit-and-run crash involving stolen car in Minnesota
A 70-year-old Hmong woman was killed in a hit-and-run crash involving a stolen car in St. Paul, Minnesota.
A stolen gray Kia Sportage SUV crashed into Phoua Thao Hang and her husband’s vehicle in Forest Street and Magnolia Avenue East at around 10 p.m. on July 17, according to the St. Paul Police.
Hmong community holds candlelight vigil at Vadnais Lake for Minnesota couple and their 3 children
- Members of the Minnesota Hmong community gathered on Saturday and placed flowers, candles and balloons at the shore of Vadnais Lake to honor the memory of a couple and their three children, who were drowned by their mother.
- Molly Cheng, 23, drowned her three children and herself in Vadnais Lake the same day her husband Yee Lee committed suicide in their Maplewood home on July 1.
- The candlelight vigil took place where police first found the abandoned shoes of the three children, which prompted the emergency search by Ramsey County.
- The fathers of the couple voiced their deep grief and gratitude for the support of the community.
- Family members of Lee and Cheng have set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help raise money for the family’s funeral expenses.
The Hmong 18 Council of Minnesota along with family and community members held a candlelight vigil at Vadnais Lake to honor the memory of a couple and their three children, who were drowned by their mother.
Members of the Hmong community gathered on Saturday and placed flowers, candles and balloons at the shore of Vadnais Lake, where the abandoned shoes of the three children were found two weeks ago.
Police: Minnesota woman, 23, killed her 3 children and herself after her husband’s suicide
- Molly Cheng, 23, and her three children were recovered from a Minnesota lake in what authorities are investigating to be a “possible triple murder-suicide” during a two-day search that began Friday evening.
- Multiple agencies began the search after officials responded to a home in Maplewood on Friday morning for a reported suicide. They found the body of Kos Lee, the husband of Cheng and the father of the three children.
- Police were able to track the mother’s location through her cellphone. Cheng’s car and the shoes of the children, two boys and a girl, were also found by the lake.
- Authorities recovered the body of one child from the lake at around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and the body of a second child shortly after midnight from the same lake in Vadnais Heights.
- The body of the mother was recovered at 10:40 a.m. on Saturday. The third child was found 20 minutes later.
- The tragedy has left the area’s Hmong community in shock and struggling to cope, prompting community leaders to counsel not only the victims’ families but also Hmong families in the Twin Cities.
The bodies of a mother and her three children were recovered from a Minnesota lake in what authorities are investigating to be a “possible triple murder-suicide.”
Molly Cheng, a 23-year-old tattoo and beauty artist, and her three children, who are all believed to be under the age of 5, were pulled from a lake north of St. Paul during a two-day search that began Friday evening.
Officers who fatally shot Hmong American man during Lava Fire evacuation will not face charges
- Officers from three law enforcement agencies who fatally shot Soobleej Kaub Hawj on June 28, 2021, during an evacuation from the Lava Fire in Northern California will not be charged for their actions, according to prosecutors.
- In a letter addressed to the agencies on June 14, Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus said the officers’ use of deadly force was “justified,” adding that the “quick action” of one of them may have “saved lives.”
- Hawj, who died at 35, was shot dead after he allegedly pointed his firearm at the officers who barred him from entering the fire zone.
- The shooting escalated tensions between local authorities and Hmong residents, who had been in conflict for months over a crackdown on illegal marijuana farms and alleged discriminatory, anti-Asian policies.
- Hawj’s family, who witnessed his death, remains skeptical of the district attorney’s findings and is reportedly considering filing a civil lawsuit.
Officers from three law enforcement agencies who fatally shot a Hmong American man during an evacuation from last year’s Lava Fire in Northern California will not be charged for the incident, according to prosecutors.
On June 14, Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus announced that the use of deadly force by four officers who opened fire on Soobleej Kaub Hawj was “justified,” and that each of them was cleared from criminal liability.
Summer Walker accused of appropriating, sexualizing Hmong culture with provocative outfit
R&B artist Summer Walker is facing backlash for wearing an outfit to a performance at the Crypto.com Arena that repurposed a traditional Hmong necklace called a xauv for a revealing two-piece.
Gia Vang, first Hmong American TV news anchor in the Twin Cities, bids farewell at KARE 11
- Gia Vang, the first Hmong-American TV news anchor in the Twin Cities, bid farewell to Minnesota as a co-anchor of KARE 11 Sunrise on Friday.
- The journalist made national news by co-founding the “Very Asian” campaign in January with Michelle Li, an anchor at the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, to fight racism.
- Along with Yia Vang, the journalist also debuted “Hmonglish,” a podcast that explores the intersection of Hmong and American culture.
- While Vang has yet to announce where she is headed, she previously suggested that she will be leaving Minnesota.
Gia Vang, the first Hmong American TV news anchor in the Twin Cities, has left the KARE 11 station.
Vang bid farewell to Minnesota as a co-anchor of “KARE 11 Sunrise” earlier today after announcing last week that she was leaving the station.
Wisconsin woman scams Hmong American investors out of at least $16.5 million
- A 40-year-old woman in Wisconsin allegedly defrauded around 70 Hmong American investors of at least $16.5 million between April 2017 and April 2021.
- Kay Yang, along with her husband 47-year-old Chao Yang, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- According to investigators, Yang targeted investors in eight states and used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
- Most of the investors were unable to have their money returned, and some have lost their entire investment.
A 40-year-old Wisconsin woman has been accused of operating a scheme that defrauded around 70 Hmong American investors out of at least $16.5 million.
A civil complaint was filed on Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, charging Kay Yang with four counts of securities fraud from between April 2017 and April 2021.
Hmong American PhD student rejected for prestigious fellowship for not being in ‘underrepresented’ group
A Hmong American Ph.D. candidate studying neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was refused a fellowship after it was determined that she was not from an “underrepresented” group because she’s Asian American.
“Model minority” myth: In a Twitter thread, doctoral student Kao Lee Yang said she was nominated for the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship but was told by a committee that she didn’t fit its “Racial/Ethnic Underrepresentation” criteria.
Judge says Northern California county water delivery ban is discriminatory against Hmong pot growers
A federal judge has blocked Northern California county permit laws that she argued were discriminatory toward Asian Americans.
Ordinances: Two Siskiyou County ordinances were filed on May 4 that prohibit the transportation of groundwater without a permit.
First-ever Hmong male news anchor in US almost brought to tears on his debut by surprise video message
This week, Chenue Her became the first Hmong male news anchor in the U.S.
Making history: On Oct. 4, Her experienced his first day as an anchor for WOI-TV Local 5 News in Iowa and was surprised by an encouraging video message from his long-time friend, fellow journalist and role model Gia Vang, according to Kare 11.
Hmong Cultural Center vandalized with white supremacist graffiti days after grand opening
A group of vandals was captured on video spray painting a slogan linked to a white supremacist group onto the storefront of the Hmong Cultural Center Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.
‘Whitewashing’: Mark Pfeifer, program director of the cultural center, discovered the vandalism when he came to work on Wednesday morning, according to Twin Cities. He then informed his colleagues through a message that their storefront was “whitewashed” with a “possible white supremacist message.”
Doua Moua to star in self-written Hmong American drama ‘The Harvest’
“Mulan” actor Doua Moua will star in the independent film “The Harvest,” a Hmong American family drama based on his own screenplay.
What to know: “The Harvest,” which Moua wrote in 2009, follows an estranged son who comes home to help his ailing Hmong father and ends up setting off “a chain of events that affects the lives of his entire family.” The script made it to the 2019 CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) List and is a 2017 Academy Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist.
