Asian Americans in Metro Detroit remember California shooting victims

Madison Heights — More than 50 people gathered Saturday at a vigil to remember the victims of the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay shootings, stand in solidarity with the Asian American community and call for gun control legislation.

The vigil outside Madison Heights City Hall was organized by Rising Voices and Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote Michigan, two organizations that advocate for the Asian American community.

"This past week has been an extremely profound tragedy and trauma upon the Asian American community," said Jasmine Rivera, Executive Director of Rising Voices.

"This is something that is especially hurtful during the Lunar New Year, which is a time of celebration, where our families are expecting a holiday where we can be together and feel safe and secure at the most joyous time of the year," Rivera said.

In just two days, two shootings in California took the lives of 17 people. The first happened on Jan. 21 in the city of Monterey Park in Los Angeles County. Huu Can Tran, 72, has been accused of killing 10 people at a ballroom dance club during Lunar New Year celebrations.

On Jan. 23 a 66-year-old farmworker, Chunli Zhao, has been accused of killing seven people in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms near the city of Half Moon Bay.

Most farms in the Half Moon Bay area only employ Latino workers but one targeted in the shooting employed Asian workers as well. Monterey Park is largely composed of Asian immigrants or first-generation Asian Americans and Lunar New Year is a holiday observed by many Asian cultures.

More:Red flag gun laws are on the Democratic agenda in Michigan. But do they work?

Roland Hwang, 73, went to the vigil from Northville to show solidarity. People in the Asian American community have been feeling hopeless following last week's carnage, and he said he felt it was time to speak out.

"Why is it happening? ... It's symptomatic of a problem that we have, I think, with guns," Hwang said. "It's time to speak out about guns, gun safety and the proliferation of guns that is just affecting all of us."

Several local politicians, including Madison Heights Mayor Roslyn Grafstein, Oakland County Executive David Coulter and State Sen. Stephanie Chang, also attended.

Chang, who represents Michigan's State Senate District 3, attended the vigil with her young daughter. Gun violence is a public health crisis and prevention should be prioritized by Michigan's Legislature through red flag laws, universal background checks and safe storage laws, she said.

"We don't have to live in fear. ... I am really committed to making sure that we work together in the legislature to finally move forward common-sense gun violence prevention legislation," Chang said. "I'm hoping that we can use this crisis as an opportunity to continue to come together to continue to celebrate Lunar New Year and really make this the year that we take action finally."

Hoa Dinh of Shelby Township attended the vigil to support the victims of last week's tragedies and advocate for better mental health resources and gun control.

Grafstein pledged to lobby county, state and federal elected officials to provide mental health resources in the community.

"What I can do is I can support the Asian community," Grafstein said. "I can support and be an ear to listen to the mentally ill."

In an effort to help the immigrant community in attendance feel more included Henry Duong and Da Ding, with Rising Voices, gave remarks at the vigil in Vietnamese and Chinese. Duong is from the Monterey Park area and said his parents live five minutes away from the dance hall where the shooting occurred.

"I was the one to actually call my parents to let them know," Duong said. "They don't really speak English. ... I hope in Michigan, we can work on language access so our immigrant community can feel included."

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have passed red flag gun laws that could result in the seizure of firearms from individuals judged to be a high risk to others, many of them in the past few years. Similar bills have been proposed in Michigan in 2017, 2018 and 2022, but the Republican-controlled Legislature did not vote on them.

Brenden Boudreau, executive director of Great Lakes Gun Rights in Grand Rapids, said such laws are failing to deliver on what advocates promised they would do.

“Right now, they are being billed as a silver bullet to prevent bad people from doing bad things with guns,” Boudreau recently told the News. “Ultimately, it’s humans who are enforcing the law, and they aren’t using it very well.”

A Nov. 28-Dec. 1 Glengariff Group poll of 600 registered Michigan voters found passing a red flag gun measure and requiring background checks for gun purchases should be the highest priority for the Legislature among seven Democratic priorities presented. Gun reform finished first with 24% support followed by 18% backing for easing taxes on retirement income, according to the survey sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber.

Overall, 74% of Michigan registered voters said they would support a red flag law, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of plus-minus 4 percentage points.

hmackay@detroitnews.com

Staff writer Kara Berg contributed.