Nationwide — Aki Maehara, a 71-year-old Japanese American professor who teaches about racism at East Los Angeles College in Los Angeles, California, was seriously injured after being hit by a car in a possible hate crime. The driver shouted racial slurs before fleeing, and police are still investigating.
On April 29, around 10 p.m., Maehara was riding his electric bike near his home in Montebello when a sedan came straight at him. Just before the crash, he heard someone shout slurs against people of Chinese descent. The collision threw him through a yard and into a brick wall.
Maehara, a Vietnam War veteran, suffered serious injuries to his face, hips, elbows, and lower back. To avoid costly ambulance fees, he called friends to take him to the VA hospital in Long Beach.
He believes he was targeted, possibly because he wears a full-face helmet that hides his appearance. It also wasn’t the first time he has experienced threats or harassment.
This wasn’t the first time Maehara faced hostility. “There’s a long history. They’ve picketed my classroom at East L.A. College. Chicano Republicans came after me and picketed me at Cal State Long Beach,” he told The LA Times. “The KKK came to my classroom in Cal State Long Beach when I was teaching a course on the U.S. Vietnam War. This is not the first time I’ve been targeted.”
Friends started a GoFundMe to help cover the cost of his home health care. It has so far raised over $55,000.
Montebello police have not made any arrests and say they haven’t found security footage of the incident. The investigation is ongoing.
Despite his injuries, Maehara returned to his classroom with just four weeks left in the semester. According to his friend, he didn’t want to abandon his students.