CBS News in March said that the report could not show the overall picture of hate acts happening across the country, since the data cited by the research was limited to crimes reported to local police departments. More racist attacks aiming at Asians were called as “hate incidents”, which was defined by the Department of Justice as acts of prejudice that are not crimes.

The number of such attacks was also on the rise last year. More than 2,800 of these hate incidents targeting Asian-Americans had been reported in 47 states and the District of Columbia since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Stop AAPI Hate, a non-profit group formed in 2020. AAPI refers to Asia- Americans and Pacific Islanders. The AAPI population in the country was estimated at 24.2 million.

“These recent incidents are stark reminders that urgent action must be taken to protect our AAPI community from hate, discrimination and violence.” the group noted on its website, which allows its users to report such incidents. To fight the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes, the California legislature on February 23 enacted the AB 85 law which includes funding of $1.4 million specifically to support Stop AAPI Hate’s website, analysis and research.

In March, the Los Angeles County Board voted unanimously to approve a motion to immediately identify funding to expand the county’s anti-hate program, “LA vs. Hate”, in an effort to combat hate against the AAPIs. The Los Angeles metro area contains one of the densest Asian populations in the US, with 11.3 per cent identifying as Asian.