Organize to Stop Asian Hate
Justice for the Roques
Visit the campaign website at justice4roques.com for the latest updates!
About the Campaign:
On May 13, 2022, the Roque family were attacked by a white man late at night at a McDonald's drive through. The family were physically assaulted and verbally harassed (racist insults and threats of violence). The family attempted to defend themselves from the attacker, who fractured Gabriel Roque's rib. The other family members present walked away from this deeply traumatized and in need of counseling resources. Shortly after the attack, Nerissa Roque boldly stated that she never wants this to happen to another person again.
Anti-Asian hate crime is on the rise in the COVID pandemic, because the failures of the government and our leaders are being blamed on Asian communities. That’s why the Roque family and their supporters confront hate with interracial solidarity, building community power, and the intent to demand accountability and change institutions that should prioritize people’s health and lives instead of business as usual. While the Roque family and their supporters push for accountability for the attacker, they understand that more police and crueler laws do not address the root of anti-Asian hate, but only worsens our institutions’ racism toward poor Black and brown communities.
We stand in solidarity with the Roque family, all victims of racism, and all those suffering for our leaders’ failures. Help us spread the word to your networks and get involved by clicking the “Support the Campaign” button above!
Preliminary hearing results on April 17 - call for community support!
Pack the Van Nuys courthouse on Monday, April 17th @ 12:30pm where we expect to hear the results of the preliminary hearing!
Community supports Roques over 3-day preliminary hearing on April 4-6
Asian American, Filipino, and solidarity community organizations helped mobilize over 150 community members in support of the family in the long-awaited preliminary hearing nearly a year after the incident took place in May 2022.
People took time off work, skipped classes, drove over an hour, and sacrificed their day to show their support for the family. On this day, the Court made the family and community wait five hours before they could even be let into the Gallery for the hearing.
Once inside, the community had to witness the family go through a barrage of questions and statements from the defense that questioned the validity of their experiences, twisted their testimonies, and painted a false narrative of the Roque family's intentions to prosecute the hate crime.
The community was rightfully shocked at the lies and manipulation that occurred in the courtroom that day. It was especially undignifying that the court made over 150 people wait an entire day for the family to be heard, only to see the justice system attack and fail them.
The community saw upfront the limitations of the system to deliver true justice for the most marginalized and oppressed in society.
Justice has been delayed once again
The expected preliminary hearing on the 24th of January will no longer happen.
The Roque family has been standing up and pushing through with the support of the community. But even for them, this has been a slow and frustrating process.
Months after seeking support from government entities, the family hasn’t received any victim compensation and material support.
The family alongside the community will not be deterred amidst this pushback and will continue to fight for justice, use this to build even more momentum, advocate and fight for victims of hate crimes and racial injustices.
Visit the campaign website at justice4roques.com for the latest updates!
Successful community action at arraignment on July 11!
On Monday, July 11th community members gathered at Van Nuys Courthouse West for a show of community support and attended the arraignment of Nicholas Weber together with the family. The continuous pressure from the community resulted in a favorable decision: Nicholas Weber is kept in custody with a bail of $150,000 and a protective order for the family has also been issued in the event that Nicholas Weber does get released during trial. This result could only come about because of all the support from the community! The preliminary hearing for the case is set to be August 19th. In the meantime, we still need the community’s support, not just for this case but to ensure that we continue to build solidarity against hate.
Sucessful Community Meeting on Sunday, June 26!
On Sunday, June 26th in person at Precious Blood Church and online on Zoom, more than 60 community members and organizations attended the Justice for the Roques community meeting to show support, hear updates, and join committees to continue working on the campaign! Special thanks to Precious Blood Church for hosting us as well as all the organizations who attended. It’s not too late to sign up to support the campaign and join a committee!
Community action to call for Justice for the Roques!
More than 60 community members rallied at the Los Angles District Attorney’s office in Van Nuys to call for justice for the Roque family! The campaign still needs your support to ensure the Roque family gets justice, that the suspect be held accountable, and to ensure that the community comes together to put a stop to Asian hate.
6/22/22: Los Angeles Times
Suspect in North Hollywood anti-Asian attack on Filipino family is arrested and charged
6/18/22: Los Angeles Times
Filipino family seeks justice after anti-Asian attack at North Hollywood drive-through
The following is the statement of the youngest daughter of the Roque family, who was there for the attack:
“On May 13, 2022, my family and I were victims of anti-Asian hate. What initially started off as a minor traffic collision quickly escalated to an verbal and physical assaults. We were taunted, ridiculed, and belittled because of our appearance as Asian Americans. Specifically, the Suspect called us “Ching Chong” and made squinting eye motions as he verbally threatened us.
We called the police, but they were slow to respond, so we called my dad to help us. When my dad arrived, the Suspect continued to verbally assault us, attempted to open our car door as I was seated in the passenger seat. When my father tried to stop the Suspect from further attacking us, the Suspect viciously attacked my dad on the by beating him and throwing him on the ground. My mom tried to intervene to stop the attack on my dad. At that point, the suspect turned his anger and hate towards my mom and started strangling her with his bare hands. We all screamed for help. We all pleaded for the Suspect to stop. Thankfully, bystanders helped stop the attack on my family.
There is no doubt that the Suspect’s actions and attacks were motivated by hate. This was the most traumatic experience of our lives. I feared that the Suspect would kill us because of what we looked like - because we are Asian.
We are demanding a full investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and demand that this case be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
We thank the community for supporting us at this difficult time. The Filipino American and Asian American communities have rallied behind us, so we know we are not alone.”
The Filipino Migrant Center (FMC), the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), and Migrante Los Angeles are supporting the Roques in their recovery from the hateful attack they suffered and in their fight for justice to ensure the suspect is held accountable. The family doesn’t want anyone else to have to experience the trauma that they went through.
Please click on the link below to sign up to support the Roque family or to just get updates about the campaign. There is also a link to donate towards’ the Roques’ recovery as they did not get any paid leave after the attack.
For any inquiries, please email jc@filipinomigrantcenter.org. The family’s legal counsel is Roxas Law.