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Communities gather for Asian anti-hate rally at the statehouse

The rally at the statehouse comes a week after a deadly shooting rampage in Atlanta killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the second straight week, an Asian anti-hate rally was held in Columbus Saturday afternoon.

The rally at the statehouse comes a week after a deadly shooting rampage in Atlanta killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent.

The focus of the rally is to stop hate against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. 

City and state leaders gathered at last week's rally to show their support.

Isabela Guinigundo helped organize Saturday's rally at the statehouse along with the organization OPAWL. 

"We are standing together to say we condemn the hate against AAPI communities." 

The rally comes a day after Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted made a controversial tweet calling COVID-19 the "Wuhan Virus", which can lead to stigmatization of Asian people. 

An organizer of the statehouse rally says that racism has existed against AAPI individuals dating before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I'm not surprised but I'm really hurt about it," said Guinigundo about Husted's tweet.

Husted's office responded to the criticism, saying it has nothing to do with one's ethnicity and it has to do with the geography of which the virus originated.

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