Two cases of anti-Asian violence and one of police murder of a Pilipino veteran
Progressive Asian Network for Action, in conjunction with Neighborhood Safety Companions, supports these campaigns for justice and encourages you to do the same today:

PANA advocates that Asian Americans stand up for each other and with our allies against racist violence
Progressive Asian Network for Action, in conjunction with Neighborhood Safety Companions, supports these campaigns for justice and encourages you to do the same today:
‘Excited delirium’ theory used in Antioch death of Angelo Quinto is racist and unscientific. Support the campaign to win AB 360!
The American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, World Health Organization, Physicians for Human Rights, have all determined that the term used to justify police killings of civilians is not scientific.
Yet, public agencies continue to use the term to absolve police from accountability when they murder civilians without just cause, “including in the Contra Costa County Coroner’s conclusion that Angelo Quinto, 30, died of “excited delirium” on Dec. 23, 2020, despite the fact that police knelt on his back for five minutes.“
https://www.ktvu.com/news/excited-delirium-theory-used-in-antioch-death-is-racist-and-unscientific-new-report-concludes
On December 23, 2020, Bella Quinto-Collins called 911, seeking help for her 30-year-old brother, Angelo Quinto, who was agitated and exhibiting signs of a mental health crisis at their home in Antioch, California. When two police officers arrived, they pulled Quinto from his mother’s arms onto the floor. At least twice, Quinto’s mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins, heard him say to the officers, “Please don’t kill me.” Bella and Cassandra then watched in disbelief and horror as the two officers knelt on Quinto’s back for five minutes until he stopped breathing. Three days later, Quinto died in the hospital.[1]
It was not until August 2021 that the family learned the official determination of cause of death: a forensic pathologist testified during a coroner’s inquest that Quinto died from “excited delirium syndrome.”[2]
Angelo Quinto, a Filipino-American Navy veteran, is one of many people, disproportionately people of color, whose deaths at the hands of police have been attributed to “excited delirium” rather than to the conduct of law enforcement officers. In recent years, others have included Manuel Ellis, Zachary Bear Heels, Elijah McClain, Natasha McKenna, and Daniel Prude.[3] “Excited delirium” even emerged as a defense for the officers who killed George Floyd in 2020.[4]
An Austin-American Statesman investigation into each non-shooting death of a person in police custody in Texas from 2005 to 2017 found that more than one in six of these deaths (of 289 total) were attributed to “excited delirium.”[5] A January 2020 Florida Today report found that of 85 deaths attributed to “excited delirium” by Florida medical examiners since 2010, at least 62 percent involved the use of force by law enforcement.[6] A Berkeley professor of law and bioethics conducted a search of these two news databases and three others from 2010 to 2020 and found that of 166 reported deaths in police custody from possible “excited delirium,” Black people made up 43.3 percent and Black and Latinx people together made up at least 56 percent.[7]
https://phr.org/our-work/resources/excited-delirium/
For more information about the campaign to win justice for Angelo Quinto: https://justiceforangelo.carrd.co/
Track the status of AB 360: https://legiscan.com/CA/votes/AB360/2023
PHR Endnotes:
[1] Interview with Robert Collins, Bella Quinto-Collins, and Cassandra Quinto-Collins, Oct. 29, 2021. See also, John L. Burris, Ayana C. Curry, Ben Nisenbaum, Dewitt M. Lacy, James A. Cook, Kenneth Chike Odiwe, and Tonia Robinson, Law Offices of John L. Burris, “RE: Request for Endorsed Copy Verifying Administrative Claim Received – Law Offices of John L. Burris,” Feb. 18, 2021, https://johnburrislaw.com/Quinto-Claim.pdf; Jacey Fortin, “California Man Died after Police Knelt on Him for 5 Minutes, Family Says,” New York Times, Feb. 25, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/25/us/angelo-quinto-death-police-kneel.html; Claire Wang, “The Filipino American Family behind Calif.’s New Police Reform Laws Speaks Out,” NBC News, Oct. 15, 2021, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/filipino-american-family-califs-new-police-reform-laws-speaks-rcna3030.
[2] Nate Gartrell and Rick Hurd, “Death of Angelo Quinto, Navy Vet Who Died after Struggle with Antioch Cops, Blamed on ‘Excited Delirium,’” The Mercury News, Aug. 20, 2021, https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/20/death-of-angelo-quinto-after-struggle-with-cops-blamed-on-excited-delirium-a-controversial-diagnosis-the-ama-says-is-used-to-shield-police-violence.
[3] Stacia Glenn, “‘Can’t breathe’: Tacoma police restraint of Manuel Ellis caused his death, medical examiner reports,” Seattle Times, Jun. 3, 2020, https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/cant-breathe-tacoma-police-restraint-of-manuel-ellis-caused-his-death-medical-examiner-reports/; “Family rallies for man killed in 2017 Omaha police struggle,” Associated Press, Jun. 6, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/ne-state-wire-omaha-28d4820fecb111234d641f609db031f3; Anica Padilla, “‘Excited Delirium’: Elijah McClain’s Mother Talks To ’60 Minutes’ About Use Of Ketamine To Sedate Suspects,” CBS Denver, Dec. 14, 2020; Justin Jouvenal, “‘Excited delirium’ cited in dozens of deaths in police custody. Is it real or a cover for brutality?” Washington Post, May 6, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/existence-of-excited-delirium-ruling-in-va-womans-death-has-experts-split/2015/05/06/b1cc9499-ddaa-474c-9e8a-9ae89a9ae679_story.html; Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw and Andrea J. Ritchie, Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Among Black Women (New York: African American Policy Forum, 2015) http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53f20d90e4b0b80451158d8c/t/560c068ee4b0af26f72741df/1443628686535/AAPF_SMN_Brief_Full_singles-min.pdf; Lisette Voytko, “Daniel Prude’s Autopsy Report Says ‘Excited Delirium,’ A Controversial Diagnosis, Contributed To His Death,” Forbes, Dec. 3, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/09/03/daniel-prudes-autopsy-report-says-excited-delirium-a-controversial-diagnosis-contributed-to-his-death/?sh=199868b61784.
[4] Alysia Santo, “As George Floyd Died, Officer Wondered About ‘Excited Delirium,’” The Marshall Project, Jun. 4, 2020, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/06/04/as-george-floyd-died-officer-wondered-about-excited-delirium; Steve Karnowski, “EXPLAINER: Why ‘excited delirium’ came up at Chauvin trial?” Associated Press, Apr. 19, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/health-death-of-george-floyd-trials-george-floyd-3b60b3930023a2668e7fc63f903fc3aa; Ja’han Jones, “3 ex-cops charged in George Floyd’s death try to blame ‘excited delirium’ as the cause,” MSNBC, Jan. 28, 2022, https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/george-floyd-excited-delirium-rcna13990.
[5] Eric Dexheimer and Jeremy Schwartz, “In fatal struggles with police, a controversial killer is often blamed,” Austin-American Statesman, May 27, 2017, https://www.statesman.com/story/news/investigates/2017/05/27/in-fatal-struggles-with-police-controversial-killer-is-often-blamed/8339157007.
[6] Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon, “Excited delirium: Rare and deadly syndrome or a condition to excuse deaths by police?” Florida Today, Oct. 24, 2019, https://www.floridatoday.com/in-depth/news/2019/10/24/excited-delirium-custody-deaths-gregory-edwards-melbourne-taser/2374304001.
[7] Osagie K. Obasogie, “Excited Delirium and Police Use of Force,” Virginia Law Review vol. 107, no. 8 (Dec. 2021), https://www.virginialawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Obasogie_Book_107.pdf.
Members of PANA initiated Neighborhood Safety Companions (NSC) in March 2021 to provide a vehicle for those willing to stand up to the violent attacks on Asian Americans across the U.S. and world. As an extension of PANA members’ work to win full equality for Asian Americans, the work PANA members do in NSC is an extension of our efforts to build political power and solidarity to win the societal change that our communities need. Please support these efforts.
https://safetywalks.org/what-is-needed-to-end-anti-asian-violence/
“If one is to be serious about putting an end to racist anti-Asian violence, there has to be an addressing of causal factors. Advocating increased policing or crimes reporting alone fail to address the problem at the street level. Few Asian/Pacific Islander organizations are advocating direct aid to victims and families like Neighborhood Safety Companions (NSC) does. This needs to change. Our “demands” are a work in progress, but hopefully, what we present can encourage further discussion and constructive debate.”
On February 25, 2022, fire destroyed 2 of the 6 buildings at Historic Wintersburg, and is now under investigation for possible arson. Republic Services, owners of the property, demolished both buildings several hours after the fire, destroying evidence for the investigation. They previously applied to demolish all 6 historic buildings so they can develop or sell. In the lead up to the fire, Historic Wintersburg volunteers have been attacked by racists on social media, stalked, photographed, and been subjected to other acts of intimidation against the preservation project.
Mary Urashima, organizer for the project, has requested that organizations and individuals write letters to the Huntington Beach mayor and city council demanding:
The addresses to email are Mayor Barbara Delgleize, [email protected]. City Council, [email protected]. (Urashima)
Commenters on social media have demanded independent state and federal level investigations, which have been done before, to investigate the Fountain Valley PD in the 1980s and 1990s. (Hayashida, NSC)
This fire happened as hate incidents have skyrocketed across the country. A recent report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism said hate incidents, which include hate crimes, have increased 339% from 2020 through 2021. (Yam)
Attacks against Asian Places of Worship in 2020 and 2021, locally, have been numerous and dramatic.
Other sources report additional incidents at temples, mosques, video conference church meetings. (Kandil, ACLU, Borja)
Vandalism against ethnic churches should be understood intersectionality, as not only an attack against a place of worship, and not only as an attack against a specific minority, but an attack against the intersection of the two.
Racists, typically white Christians, have attacked Black Christian churches and other houses of worship since they originated, because the serve as community political centers to defend Black people, and increase Black power. (Boddie) Japanese American faith organizations have similar functions: popular mobilization, protection, and power.
Causes for anti-Asian violence and vandalism are numerous, but it’s often irrational, where general anger from one situation results in violence against an Asian person or Asian institution completely unrelated to that situation.
The fire at this historic site is happening at the same time that reactionaries are mounting an attack on “Critical Race Theory”, or CRT, in the state legislatures. CRT is a legal theory, but their use of CRT is a code word for Ethnic Studies and accurate U.S. history. It’s a push back against teaching minority histories in the schools. (Sawchuck)
It’s against this ambient and legislative attack on history education that we must consider this fire could have been arson, motivated by hatred or anger at a racial minority.
Axios.com
Feb 5, 2022 – Politics & Policy
Russell Contreras, Shawna Chen
Black Americans remained the most targeted group in most cities, but anti-Asian American hate crimes increased 339% in 2021, the preliminary report found.
Continue reading HERE.
Progressive Asian Network for Action (PANA) continues to work with other to build the solidarity necessary to fight this rise in hate crimes. Please join this important community event in Koreatown, Los Angeles, on February 16: https://safetywalks.org/feb16
On December 30, PANA and Neighborhood Safety Companions (NSC) were not deterred by rain as they joined calls for justice in downtown L.A. on the one-year anniversary of Christian Hall’s murder by Pennsylvania State Police. Organized by Answer Coalition, Los Angeles, other attendees included Anti-Asian Violence community safety allies from Asians with Attitude and Pan Asian Harmony Society. We heard recorded statements from Christian’s parents and his best friend. Solidarity statements included members of Party for Socialist Liberation, Roofers Union Local 36. Music by @taevinmusic.
Please support the campaign to win Justice for Christian Hall, which is the intersection of killer cops accountability, the lack of mental health services in the U.S. and the challenges faced by adoptees and their families.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/…/christian-hall-police…#JusticeForChritianHall
@justiceforChristianHall
https://linktr.ee/justiceforchristianhall
Through direct interaction with local seniors, small businesses, workers, street vendors, housed and un-housed neighbors, the NSC street-walk teams hold conversations about their efforts to combat Anti-Asian Violence. NSC also engages in mutual aid, distributing safety supplies (whistles, personal alarms, pepper spray) and personal health items (personal hygiene items, alcohol wipes, masks, socks, etc).
PANA members working on the NSC effort also try to connect the work to the larger battles for healthcare, quality housing, social services and the need to build solidarity between various social movements.
NSC recently launched a new website to compliment their ongoing presence on Instagram. NSC is also looking for a non-profit fiscal sponsor so as to pursue financial support for their work and restocking supplies.
Website of Neighborhood Safety Companions: https://safetywalks.org
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neighborhoodsafetycompanions/
The Nation
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/anti-asian-racism-china/
Biden may reject the hateful language of “China virus,” but he is extending the “tough on China” policy, which was the overall framework for so many of Trump’s racist tweets and remarks. This bodes poorly both for US-China relations and for Asian Americans, whose treatment has always been connected to Americans’ perceptions of the region.
PANA expects that anti-Asian racism and violence will continue to be supported by anti-China rhetoric coming out of the Biden Administration, including continued increase in propaganda to justify U.S. military provocation in the Asia/Pacific region, either directly or via proxy (e.g. Japan, Duterte).
“When they (Proud Boys) come to protest, the police shut down this place for over 3 hours. We cannot make money, customers afraid and cannot go in and out and people don’t want to come near. This is very bad for us and for business.”
About 30 members of the “Proud Boys”, an armed white supremacist paramilitary group have come to Westlake on the east edge of Koreatown twice to protest Wi Spa for serving transgender people.
They believe transgender people should not be served. A video was allegedly shot of a transgendered person displaying genitalia inside the spa during the summer. The video went viral on far right news stations and Fox Mews. Then L.A. transgender activists were targeted on social media. Then, the protests began.
When these people attack Wi Spa’s right to serve trans people with their threats of violence, dozens of workers and customers are stuck inside and terrified. For Manager Jonathan, a Korean American and the Korean workers and staff, it means loss of income and a bad reputation. The surrounding neighborhood is forced to avoid the area including a high school located just 1 block north of the spa. Two people were stabbed at one of the confrontations and one pro-Wi Spa supporter was shot by the LAPD with rubber bullets.
The media has portrayed the Wi Spa incidents and violence as a protest by far right extremists against Wi Spa for allowing a transgender customer into the spa.
Although the intent of the Proud Boys is to express their homophobia and hatred for the LGBTQ community, their actions are anti-Asian racist in nature regardless of intent due to the terror and damage to Korean workers and it’s owners and customers.
The far right extremist Proud Boys must be condemned for both their virulent anti-trans homophobic actions and their anti-Asian racism stepping on the rights and dignity of the Korean business as they “protest’ LGBTQ customers
Extremists like the proud Boys now have the arrogance and audacity to organize terror demonstrations into L.A.’s majority people-of-color neighborhoods.
“We are only following the law. The law says we cannot discriminate against transgender people. What is wrong with that?”
System changers, progressives and reformers must work with and unite the broad masses of working class folks, small business and urban professionals especially in our POC communities against the far right. At the same time we must continue struggling with liberals over economic and foreign policy issues influenced by the republicans and win them over to the most progressive stances at the moment.
Please contact PANA at [email protected] to endorse this position in support of Wi Spa and against fascist violence against transgender people.
The video is portrayed as a negative example and condemns Wi Spa. The spa asserts it is simply obeying CA Civil Code 51B which forbids discrimination against transgender customers. Moreover, records at Wi Spa do not show any transgender customers coming to the spa on June 23 for appointments.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/28/anti-trans-video-los-angeles-protest-wi-spa
https://abc7.com/wi-spa-protest-lapd-alert-wilshire/10896057/
Available information suggests the perpetrators of anti-Asian hate incidents were predominantly male and disproportionately white. Among politicians who made stigmatizing statements and supported discriminatory policies and proposals, the primary perpetrators were white, male and affiliated with the Republican Party.
May 18, 2021
More information:
Joyce XiOpinion contributor
Published April 27, 2021 | Updated April 29, 2021
April 21, 2021
Asiatic exclusion and Jim Crow segregation were two modes of racial management necessary for white supremacy after the Civil War, when the West and the South were being integrated into a national economy based on corporate capital and a polity made up of white male voters. These policies relied on euphemisms and legal fictions—“aliens ineligible to citizenship” and “separate but equal”—to work around the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection and due process for all. Indeed, in the late 19th century, the Supreme Court would interpret the Fourteenth Amendment to favor the rights of capital, and not those of formerly enslaved people or Asian immigrants.
Neighborhood Safety Companions website: https://safetywalks.org
Follow NSC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neighborhoodsafetycompanions/