The Maui News

Gov. David Ige announced that flags will be flown at half-staff across Hawaii until sunset Monday to honor eight shooting victims in the Atlanta area earlier this week.

“That six of the victims were women of Asian descent is particularly appalling, and I condemn all violence based on race or ethnicity,” Ige said in a news release Thursday. “It is our kuleana to stop the rising tide of hate crimes against people of Asian descent.”

While the suspect in the Atlanta shootings told police he targeted massage parlors because of his sex addiction, the incident sparked outcry across the country because most of the victims were Asian women.

On Thursday, the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Judiciary unanimously passed two resolutions to condemn and denounce all forms of anti-Asian sentiment and all acts of racism, xenophobia, intolerance, discrimination, hate crime and hate speech against Asian Americans and Asians in the U.S.

The resolutions pointed to the Georgia shootings as well as racial stereotyping remarks by the Kauai police chief and the recent attacks on Asian-American senior citizens in California.

The measures also request the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission to collect and analyze incidents of anti-Asian activity that have occurred since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and to report their findings and recommendations back to the state Legislature.

“Our communities here in Hawaii serve as an example to the rest of the nation of what inclusivity and acceptance look like, regardless of your gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation,” said Oahu Sen. Bennette Misalucha, who introduced the resolutions. “It’s important for us to stand in solidarity with our Asian American Pacific Islander community during these difficult times.”

Both measures are headed to the Senate floor for final consideration by the full Senate.