‘It needs to stop’ Local organizations call for action after anti-Asian bias crimes

KOIN 6 July 14, 2022

A coalition of organizations held a call-to-action Thursday after Portland became the backdrop of two anti-Asian bias crimes last week.

The demonstration organized by Oregon Rises Above Hate (ORAH) comes less than a week after police arrested Neal Hollis Walker Friday for allegedly targeting a man of Chinese heritage in a road rage incident.

Dylan J. Kesterson was also arrested in early July, after police accused him of punching a father and his five-year-old daughter as they rode bikes along the Eastbank Esplanade on July 2.

According to court documents, Kesterson attacked the family from California because he thought they were Japanese.

“Our elders are afraid to leave their homes and our women are afraid to walk alone. We do not feel safe here,” Chisao Hata with the Japanese American Museum of Oregon stated at the event. “This hate is changing how we live our lives, and it needs to stop.”