COVID-19 has led to anti-Asian discrimination and violence across the United States, leaving many unfairly treated and blamed due to the virus being first documented in Wuhan, China.
Since the rise of the pandemic, Asian Americans have faced increasing rates of harassment and violence than in previous years.
“COVID-19 has enabled the spread of racism and created national insecurity, fear of foreigners, and general xenophobia, which may be related to the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic,” said a team of researchers who studied the phenomenon in 2020 for a paper published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice.
Many Asian American celebrities have spoken out against the hateful acts of discrimination on social media.
Since then, President Joe Biden signed an executive order condemning anti-Asian discrimination and directed the Department of Justice to make more efforts to stop hate crimes.
State prosecutors offer Tampa teen Twitter hacker a plea deal
17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark, accused of hacking into many prominent Twitter accounts, including politicians, celebrities, and major companies last July, has received a plea deal offer.
Clark faces 30 felony charges related to his hacking scheme tweeting from prominent accounts to solicit people into sending him over $100,000 in Bitcoin.
Some well-known politicians and celebrities Twitter accounts he hacked included President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Floyd Mayweather and Kim Kardashian.
As of Wednesday, the state offered Clark a plea deal that could mean he would be sentenced as a minor. Clark’s next court date is set for March 16.
St. Pete Beach ranked No. 1 in United States beaches
St. Pete Beach was named the nation’s best beach based on Tripadvisor’s annual Traveler’s Choice ranking.
“A great walking beach with white quartz sand, clear calm water, and seashells by the truckload. The most perfect place to watch the sun set over the ocean,” Tripadvisor wrote.
Due to the pandemic last year, Tampa Bay beaches lost $2 billion, with tourism also dropping 34 percent compared with 2019.
Residents are expecting to see an extreme increase in tourism after St. Pete Beach was recognized.
“It is wonderful news to see that not only our local residents now know why our destination is the best to not only reside, but also play,” said Robin Miller, CEO of the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.
Credits
Anchor: Demi Asensio
Reporters: Courtney Patterson
Producer: Brad Haft
Writer: Emma Kelley, Sean Stover
Graphics editor: James Birmingham, Chloe Benjamin, Dylan Zuccarello
Video Editors: Emma Kelley, Sean StoverShow
Editor: David Rose, Payton Kirol
Web Editor: Julianna Jung
Associate Producer: Gabe Castro
Executive Producer: Payton Kirol
Graduate Assistant: Emmanuel Maduneme
Faculty Adviser: Jeanette Abrahamsen, Wayne Garcia
