Store Owner in San Francisco’s Chinatown Trains Staff in Kung Fu to Fight Crime

A store owner in San Francisco’s Chinatown is training staff members in kung fu after hours so that they can help stop theft, which remains rampant in the city, amid an ongoing crime wave and anti-Asian hate crimes that have risen recently in the area.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

Mindy Fong shut the doors of Jade Chocolates Teahouse and Cafe at just past 5 p.m. on a weekday this spring. Fong had spent the day making chocolate, preparing pastries and serving tea. But now, she was leading her employees to a very different type of shift: their first all-staff kung fu class.

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Fong decided to hold the classes in late March, after a string of robberies coincided with the cafe’s move from Inner Richmond to Chinatown. Fong was excited to move to the neighborhood, where her cafe’s Asian-inspired chocolates could find a cultural home. But immediately, it was clear to Fong that COVID-19, crime and anti-Asian hate had left their mark on the neighborhood.

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In 2021, anti-Asian hate crimes spiked 567% in San Francisco, according to the city’s police department, with 60 attacks targeting people of Asian descent. Chinatown’s crime rate is below that of many parts of San Francisco. So far this year, the police department recorded fewer incidents in Chinatown than in 21 of the city’s 43 neighborhoods, including the Marina and Bernal Heights. But still, hate crimes against Asian residents loom large in residents’ minds.

Chinese-American residents of the city have played an important role in a backlash among voters against left-wing policies such as criminal justice “reform” and “woke” indoctrination in the schools. A recent recall of three school board members was driven by activists within the community, which also backed a successful recall of left-wing District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.