Olivia Munn, Daniel Dae Kim and other Hollywood stars are speaking out against the string of violent attacks on older Asian Americans across the country.
The wave of violence, which began during the coronavirus pandemic, has many cities on edge. One horrific incident in Oakland, California, in January made national headlines as security cameras captured a 91-year-old man being pushed to the ground.
After a 52-year-old Asian woman was violently shoved to the ground Tuesday in New York City, actor Munn asked followers on Instagram to help find the perpetrator and revealed she was a friend of the victim's daughter.
"My friend’s mom is a 5’3” 50+ Chinese woman and she was attacked by this guy in Flushing, NY yesterday on Main St and Roosevelt between 2-4pm. She left the hospital with 10 stitches in her head," Munn captioned two photos showing a white man in sunglasses.
"These racist hate crimes against our elders have got to stop," Munn continued, adding, "We’re gonna find this guy. Queens, Internet, please... do your s--- 🙏🏼."
After police arrested a suspect in the case, the "X-Men Apocalypse" star, 40, thanked her Instagram followers, writing, "I’m beyond grateful to all of you for caring and posting and retweeting and FINDING THIS GUY!!! ... The Asian community felt your outrage and support and YOU GUYS DID THIS!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you 😭😭😭😭"
Munn previously addressed the uptick in violent crimes against Asians in a Feb. 9 Instagram post, writing that she found herself "at a loss for words at the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes," which "have spiked since Covid and continue to increase."
"The racist verbal and physical assaults have left my community fearful to step outside," she added before citing details of specific cases across the country.
"Star Trek" legend George Takei, 83, said this week that he believes racist rhetoric from former president Donald Trump, who called the coronavirus the "China virus" and "kung flu," has contributed to the problem.
Such language "galvanized xenophobes," Takei said during his Tuesday appearance on MSNBC's "Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell."
"Throughout American history there’s been a steady undercurrent of Asian hate crimes throughout,” Takei said. "But when there are events of xenophobic hysteria then it swells up and we are going through that right now."
On Feb. 5, former "Lost" star Kim, 52, shared a video of the attack on the 91-year-old man in San Francisco on Instagram to raise awareness about the "skyrocketing" number of hate crimes against Asian Americans.
"We must do more to help the literally thousands of Americans who have suffered at the hands of this absolutely senseless violence. Please help us bring this criminal to justice," wrote Kim.
Two days later, Kim and actor Daniel Wu appeared on MSNBC’s "American Voices" where they opened up about their decision to offer a $25,000 reward for information about the case.
"We put up the reward because we didn't see enough action coming from the authorities to try and thwart these crimes that have been happening increasingly since the rise of COVID," said Wu.
"Daniel Dae Kim and I decided that we needed to take action as leaders of our community to make a statement that we're not going to take this anymore, and that we need to take action and rise up," Wu added.
The day after the actors' appearance on the show, the Oakland Police Department announced that a suspect had been arrested.