In response to anti-Asian hate incidents, groups step up trainings for bystanders

What should you do if you witness harassment, or worse, an assault?

That question came into sharp focus this week following an attack on a 65-year old Filipino immigrant outside an apartment building in Midtown Manhattan.

Caught on surveillance video, the assault is disturbing to watch, but what appears to have happened inside the building is also prompting an outcry. The video shows a man in the lobby glancing up at what's happening outside. He watches as the perpetrator stomps on the victim repeatedly. He appears to do nothing in response. A few moments later, another man inside the lobby approaches the glass door and shuts it.

“We don’t know the full story from the bystanders who were present,” says Dax Valdes, a senior trainer with the group Hollaback! “But I think the heartbreaking thing for me was seeing the door close.”

Valdes has been leading trainings offered by Hollaback! along with Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC this past year. The idea is to give bystanders tools for intervening when they see someone being harassed or disrespected, with a focus on the person experiencing the conflict.