White supremacists hijacked an Asian American New York assemblywoman’s Zoom meeting, attacking participants with offensive language and images.
Yuh-Line Niou, a Taiwanese American politician representing Lower Manhattan, was hosting a virtual volunteer organizing event on Monday when the white supremacists appeared and disrupted their meeting, reported PIX11.
According to Niou, the offenders shared pornographic images, used racist language and shouted “white power” throughout the ordeal.
“There was [sic] antisemitic attacks, anti-Asian attacks, homophobic attacks,” the Democratic assemblymember was quoted as saying.
Niou, who is currently running for state senate against Sen. Brian Kavanagh, said the Zoom bombers showed “pornography that had racial epithets written on it.”
“They started to call me names, an ‘Asian ch*nk wh*re’ was the one that was loudly said,” she added.
Niou and her team were not able to record the incident as they were focused on kicking the trespassers out and maintaining control of the event. They have since reported the incident to Zoom.
Several participants of the Zoom later confirmed what happened. According to state assembly candidate Illapa Sairitupac, who was among those exposed to “explicit sexual language that implied sexual violence,” said, “No matter what your politics are, it is unacceptable to stoop this low.”
Sairitupac, a son of Indigenous Peruvian immigrants, further slammed the attack on Twitter by stating he was “outraged” by the “racism and sexism.”
I’m outraged by this act of racism and sexism toward Assemblymember @yuhline. We can’t let these hate-filled Zoom-bombers deter us from organizing. https://t.co/NMNvTefSSd
— Illapa Sairitupac 🌹🏳️🌈 易雅博 (@illapa4NY) February 24, 2022
The unprovoked attack of the female politician came amid the continued rise of violence against Asian-American women, including the recent killings of Michelle Go and Christina Yuna Lee.
Niou noted that virtual meetings hosted by politicians of color have recently become a frequent target of such “Zoom bombing.”
“I received a message from the people that help run [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’] events, and other lawmakers of color, and they say it happens almost every event that someone’s trying to hack in,” she said.
NextShark has reached out to Niou for further comment on the incident.
Last month, Niou was also targeted with racially charged comments from New York gubernatorial hopeful Derrick Gibson, who told her to “Go back to China” before challenging her to call him “a racist,” as NextShark previously reported.
In response to Gibson, Niou said, “You’re a racist.”
Featured Image via Yuh-Line Niou
