Olympic medalist Suni Lee said she received a racist pepper spray attack

(CNN) – American gymnast Suni Lee, an Olympic gold medal winner and the first American from Hmong to compete in the Olympics, said she was pepper sprayed in a racist incident while in Los Angeles for her stint on “Dancing with the Stars “.
Lee was waiting for her transportation after a night out with a group of friends of Asian descent, she told PopSugar in an interview.

Suni Lee said a car passed by and the people in it began shouting racist insults like “ching chong” and telling the girls to “go back to where they came from,” according to the article.

Then one of the passengers pepper sprayed his arm before the car drove off, Lee said.
Lee confirmed to CNN that the incident occurred in October.

“I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they jumped,” Lee told PopSugar. I didn’t do anything to them, and having a reputation is very difficult because I didn’t want to do anything that could get me in trouble. I just let it happen. “

Attacks against Asian Americans have skyrocketed during the pandemic. A coalition that tracks racism and discrimination against Asian Americans said at least 4,533 incidents were reported in the first six months of this year.

More than 9,000 incidents were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 19, 2020 to June 30, 2021.