PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Members of the Cambodian community in Philadelphia came together to denounce racism on Friday after a threatening letter was posted in the neighborhood.
The anonymous letter was sent to the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia on June 30 and discovered on July 5. It was reportedly written by a 79-year-old woman.
It was immediately reported to police.
The writer, who reportedly lied about her identity, claimed to be a veteran with access to guns. She threatened to cause violence over fireworks in South Philadelphia’s Mifflin Square Park.
Association Executive Director Sarun Chan said to deal with this incident, his group has four demands: “One, accountability of the individual who sent the letter. This includes a full and transparent investigation that is centered around the community impacted. Two, collaborative work with city agencies … to create more equitable resources to mental health resources and communications.
“Three, prioritization of this community in regard to investment of resources. And lastly four, we call for institutional and systemwide anti-racist and equity building training from the city level because we recognize the impact of these larger institutions on BIPOC communities.”
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Community members voiced their demands at an anti-Asian hate rally in the park. The group said there has been an increase in anti-Asian violence since March 2020, which, coupled with an increase in gun violence across the city, has made life particularly dangerous for minorities.
“Our country, our city, we are not in the best state now, period,” said board member Panharee Thang. “We need to come together as one, as Americans living here.”
And, Thang noted, it doesn’t matter if the sender of the note was able to follow through on her threats or not. Thang said the damage to the community has already been done.
“We are a community of refugees, survivors of war, trauma, PTSD, and this re-triggered that fear and that scare,” Chan added. “It’s blatant ethnic intimidation, period. They identified who, where, what, how and why. The only question [it] didn’t answer was when.”
The Philadelphia Police Department has forwarded its findings of this incident to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for further review.