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Vandals Steal Money, Shatter Glass of Local Asian Restaurants Near Mall in Columbia Aimee Cho
As seen on NBC Washington on Feb. 15, 2021.
Local Asian restaurant owners are picking up the pieces after thieves broke into three restaurants, stole money and destroyed property on Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in Chinese culture.
Asian Americans Are Angry, Afraid as Hate Crime Surge Continues
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The same group of thieves hit a restaurant called Urban Hot Pot, Kung Fu Tea and Bonchon.
Zong Chen is the owner of the latter two. He said this past year has been tough on business, and he feels they were targeted for being Asian.
Howard County police said six businesses were broken into Thursday night and four of those were Asian-owned.
One is Kung Fu Tea, near The Mall in Columbia. Its front glass door was smashed and shattered, and cash was stolen. “Not only is this an act of violence within our community, but is also an attack against Asian Americans,” said resident Mike Wong, whose wife works at the bubble tea shop.
“This attack has really hit close to home.”
Bonchon and Urban Hot Pot in Columbia also had cash stolen. Nearby Corner Bakery was broken into, but nothing was reported stolen. East Moon Asian Bistro in Ellicott City had cash stolen, and nearby Coal Fire Pizza was broken into but nothing was reported stolen.
Nonetheless, the timing made the burglaries feel targeted to the Asian owners of these businesses especially as hateful attacks on Asian-Americans spike nationwide.
“We are deeply saddened that during these difficult times our community is filled with such hatred and division. As an Asian American establishment, the fact that these attacks came on Lunar New Year, such a celebrated time of year for us, is heartbreaking,” the franchise owners of the Kung Fu Tea and Bonchon locations wrote in an Instagram post. They opted not to release security video “because it will only be more damaging to the community.”
Instead, they’ve started a GoFundMe page to raise money for Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that provides assistance to hate crime victims and advocates for protections for Asian American Pacific Islander communities. As of Tuesday, they’d raised more than $6,000. Kung Fu Tea and Bonchon in Columbia will also donate 10 percent of their February sales to the cause.
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