The Scarsdale community came together Saturday afternoon to denounce hate targeted at Asians in the wake of the mass shooting in Atlanta that killed six women of Asian descent.

Hundreds of people of all races and religions collectively grieved and expressed their anger.

"I challenge myself and everyone here to fight every single day against anti-Asian hate," said Congressman Jamaal Bowman.

The Scarsdale High School students who organized the vigil said they are seeing the victims reflected in their own parents and elders.

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"This Atlanta shooting was representative of something that has been really boiling for a long period of time and really exploded," says Karen Lee, a Scarsdale High School student and event organizer.

Since the start of the pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes have skyrocketed nearly 150% in the United States, according to a Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, spreading fear across the community.

"Attacks don't even occur only in cities far away from us. It really like sends a chill throughout your body," said Peter He, Scarsdale High School sophomore and event organizer.

Elderly Asians have been targeted in various cities across the country, including right next door in White Plains when a few weeks ago, an 83-year-old Korean grandmother was spit on, punched, and knocked unconscious outside the mall in White Plains.  Her daughter, Linda Toh, addressed the crowd, despite her fears.

"We've been quiet too long, we've been timid too long, we've been nice too long. I'm not nice anymore," Toh said. "I'm not going to allow another mother get hurt. Let's be alert. Let's speak up and speak out.”

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