Exclusive: Congresswoman Judy Chu and Other Lawmakers Condemn New York Post, Call for Apology

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Judy Chu(D-CA) condemned the New York Post this afternoon in an interview with Yuan Media. She said that the New York Post should apologize for erroneously identifying the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as a "Chinese man".

“The New York Post should apologize for its erroneous reporting and implement editorial controls to prevent such mistakes in the future,” said Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress. Serving in Congress since 2009, Chu has consistently stood firm in her support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities both on Capitol Hill and beyond.

“Coming on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S.-China tensions, and rising anti-Asian sentiment, the New York Post's mistake Saturday endangered Chinese and Asian Americans' lives around the country. During such raw and major breaking news events, the margin for error is huge, and news outlets must ensure misinformation isn't mainstreamed,” Chu said.

In addition to Rep. Chu, state lawmakers from AAPI communities, like New York State Senator Iwen Chu and California State Assemblymember Evan Low, openly criticized the New York Post and urged it to issue an apology. Numerous Chinese American organizations also released statements condemning the erroneous reporting and emphasizing the harm it caused to the Chinese American community.

“This erroneous report has caused significant distress within the Chinese American community, jeopardizing the safety and reputation of Chinese Americans. While speaking out against political violence, I call on the New York Post to issue a formal and public apology to the Chinese American community, ” said Iwen Chu in a bilingual statement in English and Chinese.

“I also urge the New York Post to issue an apology for erroneously identifying the shooter as a Chinese man. Please also outline safeguards in the future to prevent such an error, ” said Evan Low, a millennial California state lawmaker, who posted his condemnation of the New York Post on social media such as X.

“The (New York) Post fueled misinformation and prejudice towards our Asian American community,” Low invited anyone who was an ally of the AAPI community to reshare his post and call for journalistic integrity, “Acknowledging the false report is meaningful to our community and allows us to be seen and heard,” Low added.

Gary Locke, former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Governor of Washington, wrote an open letter to the New York Post’s editorial team on behalf of Committee of 100, one of the nation’s leading non-profit organizations of Chinese Americans established in 1989.

“It is disheartening to see that in a time when we should be fostering unity and understanding, your publication has allowed false and divisive remarks to be disseminated to the public,” said Locke in the letter, expressing their outrage.

“The Chinese community, like all communities, deserves respect and fair representation in the media. It is the responsibility of reputable media outlets like yours to uphold standards of accuracy, integrity and respect,” he added.

Locke, along with the members of the Committee of 100, urged the New York Post to take immediate action and apologize to the Chinese American community by issuing a disclaimer at the bottom of the original story to acknowledge and correct the reporting error. Additionally, they called on the New York Post to implement stricter editorial guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future.

The United Chinese Americans released a statement late Sunday night. Its president, Haipei Shue, said, “We cannot tolerate any form of misleading reporting or discriminatory rhetoric. This is not just about defending our community but also about upholding the integrity of journalism and promoting societal harmony.”

While demanding a formal and public apology from the New York Post, Shue also urged other media outlets to adhere to high standards of journalistic ethics and to stand against prejudice and misinformation.

Queenie Ho, a Chinese community activist in New York City, called Joe Marino, the New York Post reporter who identified the gunman as a "Chinese man," immediately after seeing the inaccurate report on Saturday night. Ho had met Marino at a protest and obtained his phone number there.

According to a recording that Ho shared with Yuan Media, she told Marino that the Chinese American community was "very scared" and asked about the source of the misidentification of the shooter.

"Someone made it to the feed," Marino responded, agreeing to correct it immediately but did not offer an apology. He asked Ho not to share his phone number. "It was a brief momentary error in an online story that no one has picked up on," Marino said to Ho over the phone.

Yuan Media has twice contacted the New York Post's reporters, Joe Marino and Chris Nesi, asking them for the source of the initial identification of the suspect as a “Chinese man” and for the New York Post editorial team’s response to the anger from the Chinese American community. However, we have yet to receive any replies.