livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
Chinese business owners, fearful of being robbed, are turning to guns for protection
May 08, 2018 02:11 PM
Raleigh
When closing time nears, local Chinese restaurant owners say they must quickly decide whether to greet people approaching the entrance doors with a welcoming smile or a drawn gun.
Their fears continue after they lock up for the night, checking their rear-view mirrors for headlights as they drive home. They want to make sure robbers aren't following them.
Dozens of Chinese business owners in the Triangle say they have felt targeted by thieves for so long that they have turned to firearms, including AR-15 assault-style rifles, to defend their livelihoods and their families. About 100 small-business owners have banned together to form the North Carolina Chinese Hunting Club to train in shooting techniques.
“They're changing their mentality,” said John Wang, a local business owner who translated into English for four other Chinese business owners. "Now, they're going to start shooting back.”
The club formed two years ago, but some members say their fears intensified after 42-year-old Durham restaurant owner Hong Zheng was killed outside his home on April 15. Police arrested a 28-year-old man 12 days later and charged him with murder and attempted robbery.
It was the fifth time people had broken into or attempted to break into Zheng's home since November 2015.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation created a task force in 2014 after an estimated 35 armed robberies or attempted robberies on Asian business owners were reported from Durham to the coast the prior year. Robberies declined after the task force — which included the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — arrested two men in 2015, according to SBI spokeswoman Patty McQuillan.
North Carolina isn't the only area that has seen crimes against Asian victims. Police in Sacramento, Calif., reported a spike in such crimes last year, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested two men last fall after a string of violent robberies of Asian businesses in Atlanta.
Some say Asian business owners are targeted because they are immigrants and often don't speak fluent English. Some carry cash instead of immediately depositing money in the bank.
In North Carolina, victims have recounted attacks that are similar to the assault that killed Zheng:
They flick off their restaurant's “open” sign, straighten the chairs and tidy up the floor and lock up shop. They head home, approach their front door and are accosted by three to five armed and masked men who demand money and valuables.
'They put guns to our heads'
Most N.C. Chinese Hunting Club members have been robbed, at their businesses or their homes.
Read more here: Chinese business owners, fearful of being robbed, are turning to guns for protection
May 08, 2018 02:11 PM
Raleigh
When closing time nears, local Chinese restaurant owners say they must quickly decide whether to greet people approaching the entrance doors with a welcoming smile or a drawn gun.
Their fears continue after they lock up for the night, checking their rear-view mirrors for headlights as they drive home. They want to make sure robbers aren't following them.
Dozens of Chinese business owners in the Triangle say they have felt targeted by thieves for so long that they have turned to firearms, including AR-15 assault-style rifles, to defend their livelihoods and their families. About 100 small-business owners have banned together to form the North Carolina Chinese Hunting Club to train in shooting techniques.
“They're changing their mentality,” said John Wang, a local business owner who translated into English for four other Chinese business owners. "Now, they're going to start shooting back.”
The club formed two years ago, but some members say their fears intensified after 42-year-old Durham restaurant owner Hong Zheng was killed outside his home on April 15. Police arrested a 28-year-old man 12 days later and charged him with murder and attempted robbery.
It was the fifth time people had broken into or attempted to break into Zheng's home since November 2015.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation created a task force in 2014 after an estimated 35 armed robberies or attempted robberies on Asian business owners were reported from Durham to the coast the prior year. Robberies declined after the task force — which included the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — arrested two men in 2015, according to SBI spokeswoman Patty McQuillan.
North Carolina isn't the only area that has seen crimes against Asian victims. Police in Sacramento, Calif., reported a spike in such crimes last year, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested two men last fall after a string of violent robberies of Asian businesses in Atlanta.
Some say Asian business owners are targeted because they are immigrants and often don't speak fluent English. Some carry cash instead of immediately depositing money in the bank.
In North Carolina, victims have recounted attacks that are similar to the assault that killed Zheng:
They flick off their restaurant's “open” sign, straighten the chairs and tidy up the floor and lock up shop. They head home, approach their front door and are accosted by three to five armed and masked men who demand money and valuables.
'They put guns to our heads'
Most N.C. Chinese Hunting Club members have been robbed, at their businesses or their homes.
Read more here: Chinese business owners, fearful of being robbed, are turning to guns for protection
