胡安明案流审，亚裔维权组织举办新闻发布会
备受瞩目的华裔科学家胡安明案日前审判流审，亚裔维权组织将于2021年6月18日下午4点就此案举行新闻发布会，梳理案情发展并讨论可能的后续步骤，请大家拷贝下面的链接（或点击文末“阅读原文”链接）报名参加。
https://bit.ly/3cNeRdy
06/18/2021 Press Briefing on The Mistrial of Anming Hu
A press briefing will be held starting at 4 pm ET on on June 18, 2021 on the aftermath in the mistrial and racial profiling of University of Tennessee Professor Anming Hu under the “China Initiative.”
Advancing Justice | AAJC, The APA Justice Task Force, Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), Brennan Center for Justice, and United Chinese Americans (UCA) will examine the outcome of the trial and discuss potential next steps in this first-ever case of a university professor tried under the “China Initiative.” Attorney Phillip Lomonaco, defense attorney for Professor Hu will join the press briefing.
A media advosiry is posted at https://bit.ly/3cNUPzo.
Register for the event here: https://bit.ly/3cNeRdy.
More on the Mistrial of Anming Hu
On June 16, 2021, a mistrial in Professor Anming Hu’s case was declared after the jury deadlocked. It means that some jurors have doubts about the prosecution that a unanimous verdict cannot be reached. This is an embarrassing outcome for the federal government because it failed on the very first case of trying a university professor under the “China Initiative.” The jury includes 4 women and 8 men - all white. They refused to convict.
Judge Thomas A. Varlan has yet to rule on the defense's motion to dismiss the case, which was filed on June 11, 2021.
The trial reveals the zeal of the misguided “China Initiative” to criminalize Professor Hu with reckless and deplorable tactics of spreading false information to cast him as a spy for China and press him to become a spy for the U.S. government. When these efforts failed, the Department of Justice brought charges against Professor Hu for intentionally hiding his ties to a Chinese university, which also fell apart upon cross examination by defense attorney Phil Lomonaco during the trial.
In the fog of hunting for a spy in Knoxville, the FBI agent could not remember what exactly started his national security investigation and was not able to provide any proof that Professor Hu was or is a spy after more than three years of "investigation" that inflicted unconscionable damage to the life and career of Professor Hu and his family. Based on the testimony of the FBI agent reported by Knox News, it was based solely on a Google search of Hu's name in March 2018 and Google translation of press releases in China.
Professor Hu is not alone. At least hundreds of scientists and academic researchers are unjustly targeted, surveilled, scrutinized, and "investigated" in the dark by federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Federal Bureau of Investigations for years under the "China Initiative."
The APA Justice Task Force co-signed a letter to President-Elect Biden in January 2021, which was followed by a petition with 30,000 signatures in April 2021, calling for the Biden Administration to put a moratorium on the “China Initiative” and take further steps necessary to combat the pervasive racial bias and targeting of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers, and students, in the spirit of his executive order to combat systemic racism within the federal agencies.
APA Justice has also joined the call by Maryland State Senator Susan Lee for a Congressional oversight proceeding to hear the human and scientific costs of racial profiling while the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation is continuing its investigation of misconduct at the Department of Commerce that includes targeting of its Asian American employees.
The University of Tennessee Knoxville must also take its share of responsibility for failing not only to protect its own faculty members but also to act as an academic institution with fairness, integrity, and due process.
Racial profiling has its historical roots and is a form of anti-Asian hate and discrimination. It must be stopped with timely actions and continuing oversight to prevent further erosion of our civil rights and civil liberties.
The trial has received national amd extensive local media coverage
Civil rights and community organizations and the Asian American community including APA Justice will continue to stand firmly behind Professor Hu and his family to begin the healing process and become whole again after this traumatic experience. You can support Professor Hu by making a donation to the Anming Hu Legal Defense Fund at: https://bit.ly/3v8oE3V.
Read about the background and full coverage of the Anming Hu case here: https://bit.ly/APAJ_AnmingHu.
Breaking Reports:
2021/06/17 Washington Post: Mistrial in Justice Dept. fraud case against college professor prompts renewed scrutiny of agency’s ‘China Initiative’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/doj-china-initiative-mistrial/2021/06/17/7571c73c-cf8f-11eb-8014-2f3926ca24d9_story.html
2021/06/17 Washington Post: Letter from Reps. Ted Lieu, Mondaire Jones, and Pramila Jayapal to Inspector General Michael Horowitz at the Department of Justice
https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/letter-from-rep-lieu-to-the-doj-ig/0c9d8023-4686-4360-9d65-9df709962586/?itid=lk_inline_manual_17
Letter to The White House
On June 17, 2021, APA Justice sent a letter to Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison at the White House, calling for the Biden-Harris administration to take the following three actions without further delay:
Release the data and information requested by Reps. Jamie Raskin and Judy Chu and Senator Roger Wicker for Congressional oversight and the public. Publish the 2017-2020 opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice as it has done annually since 1977. Release the data and information requested by Advancing Justice | AAJC, American Cvil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Cato Institute under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
For additional background and context, read the letter here:
https://bit.ly/3xv5KWJ