Neighbors Band Together To Stop Teens From Harassing Asian American Family
“We’re not going to stand for this,” says one resident of Ladera Ranch, California.
Neighbors stand watch outside Haijun Si's home [screenshot via KCAL-TV]
A group of neighbors in an Orange County, California, community have joined forces to help prevent what appears to be anti-Asian American attacks against a new local family.
Haijun Si recently told L.A.’s KCAL-TV that he has had to call the sheriff seven times in response to a series of disturbing events, including teens throwing rocks at his Ladera Ranch home, leaving a pornographic print next to the driveway, pounding on his front door and hurling racial insults.
“There’s a lot of anti-Asian hate crimes going on across the country and this is just another sign that it’s happening in a smaller community,” one of Si’s neighbors noted.
Despite detectives increasing patrols and Si following recommendations to install security cameras, the incidents continued, he said.
According to KCAL-TV, the harassment only ceased after Si’s neighbors utilized their community Facebook page to sign up to stand guard in shifts outside the family’s home every night.
“I am very thankful for my neighbors,” Si noted of finally getting sleep and having a string of “peaceful nights” of “no one knocking on the door.”
“I don’t need to keep watching,” he added.
A second neighbor told the news outlet the teenagers have made “multiple attempts” to come back to harass the Si family, who do not know why they’ve been targeted.
“They see us and they turn around,” the neighbor said. “Will this make them stop forever? Probably not. But at least this family can have some peace.”
Another area resident insisted, “We’re not going to stand for this.”
Sheriff’s investigators are reportedly scouring home security footage and taking eyewitness statements in order to try to identify the children involved in the incidents.
