The pain of a Tuesday night attack on three spas in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of them of Asian descent, continues to reverberate through the country’s Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. 

The news highlighted conversations about spikes in violence against people of Asian descent in the last year after racist characterizations of COVID-19 as a “Chinese virus.” Between March 2020 and February 2021, Stop AAPI Hate documented 37 incidences of anti-Asian hate in Colorado.   

On Thursday night, local community leaders held a virtual town hall so people could discuss ways to combat anti-Asian hate, share support resources and grieve.  

Well over 200 people attended, with nearly 350 in the Zoom call at its peak. Among the attendees were Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. 

The town hall was led by Joie Ha, vice chair of the Denver Asian American Pacific Islander Commission.  

He said he recognizes that improving reporting of hate crimes involves training law enforcement both on technical aspects and making people of color feel comfortable coming forward.  

He encouraged solidarity between different races and ethnic groups. 

“We’re at our best when we’re in solidarity with one another. When there was an attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Muslim community showed up to be there; the Asian American community showed up,” Weiser said. “When there was an attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Jewish communities showed up; the African American community showed up. When we saw this attack, our heart was breaking for all our Asian brothers and sisters. And that’s the spirit that we need, to be in together.” 

Early in the session, attendees responded to a poll asking them how they’ve been feeling, and their responses populated the screen with the most frequent answers appearing in larger text: “Angry,” “exhausted,” overwhelmed,” “sad,” and “othered” loomed large. 

“These are very valid feelings,” Ha told the group. 

Hancock spoke briefly near the end of the town hall, sending a definitive message to condemn bias and hate crimes.  

“Under no circumstances will we tolerate in our city these type of bias and hate crimes occurring,” he told the group. “I wanted to come and make sure you heard it from me, the mayor of the city – your mayor, your representative — that we will do everything we can to … bring an end to these types of incidents in our community.” 

Several other upcoming events are planned to bring attention to violence against Asian communities. They include a press conference Friday at 11 a.m. hosted by Denver City Councilmember Jamie Torres of District 3, a candlelight vigil Saturday at 6 p.m. at 20th and Blake streets in Denver, and a virtual Aurora town hall Monday at 6 p.m.