Anti-Asian hate crimes plague Washington, D.C.: Axios

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Anti-Asian hate crimes are on the rise in Washington, D.C., as Asian communities continue to be blamed for the COVID-19 pandemic, news portal Axios reported on Wednesday.

In 2021, there were a total of 91 hate crime incidents involving ethnicity/national origin or race, and 23 of them targeted Asians, the report said, citing the latest figures from D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian racism has increased "all across the country," with people blaming Asians for the spread of the virus, it added.

The report also quoted a recent study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, which found that anti-Asian hate crimes in major U.S. cities rose 339 percent in 2021.