Wen Ho Lee Supporters Rally in Chinatown
By Janet Dang

“Wen Ho Lee needs to be executed for betraying our country.”

“Don’t you think he should have his day in court first?”

“Hell no. He should not get a day in court. We should shoot him right now. We should shoot any of his commie sympathizers. Chinese are all the same.”

That type of sentiment is one that Asian American civil rights activists and supporters of scientist Wen Ho Lee said they dread most. In fact, the above conversation had been circulating over the internet for some time before it reached civil rights attorney Victor Hwang at the Asian Law Caucus.

Hwang read out loud the transcript to scores of supporters who came to Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square Jan. 27 to advocate for the fair treatment of the nuclear scientist, who is now in jail for mishandling classified information at the Los Alamo nuclear lab.

“I think what history will show is that in time the only enemy of the American people are those who suspend our basic civil rights, who pass over due process and the protection our Constitution gives us,” Hwang said.

Last Thursday, the Caucus, The Chinese for Affirmative Action, The Committee of 100 and other Chinese Americans continued their relentless support for the scientist by holding a rally in Chinatown, urging community members to sign petitions and make donations to Lee’s defense fund.

“Help me by talking to everybody you know and straightening them out about their thoughts on this case,” said Lee’s daughter Alberta, who had also been at the rally.

“He’s being treated worse than convicted murderers in jail right now.”

Alberta, who has been on national media tours pleading her father’s innocence, shared her worst fears with the audience.

“I’m terrified about what’s going on in our country after seeing what’s happened to my father,” Alberta exclaimed. “Everything that you’ve been reading about in the media -- from how my father’s name was illegally leaked backed in March last year, to how he has been subjected in the last interogation of him, to the way the second polygraph was administered -- these things really terrify me. I don’t know what this country is about anymore.

“My father is an innocent man,” she added. “He is a good man. He is an amazing father. That’s why I want to devote my life to doing this.”

Calm and poised, Alberta continued her case with the public: “You don’t have to believe me that my father is innocent. What you do need to believe is what America stands for, which are civil rights and justice. I don’t think my father is getting due process right now.”

Last week, the Department of Energy and its task force against racial profiling released a six-month report affirming that there was a perception of racial profiling among Asian American lab employees.

“Asian American employees working for our nation’s defense have their loyalties called into question by their co-workers and by their supervisors,” Hwang said . “This is a case that has affected all of us in broader society.”

Though activist and member of the Committee of 100 George Koo refrained from presuming Lee’s guilt or innocence, he warned of the implications this case has on other Americans.

“Does this give the FBI license to harass, intimidate and plain lie to any Chinese American they see fit? Need I remind you that the same racial profiling justified putting 125,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry behind detention camps?” Koo asked the group.

“If we do not fight to reverse this practice and mindset, the FBI and the federal government can continue to persecute and abuse any individual in the name of protecting our national security,” Koo explained. “What is the value of national security if we are forced to live in a police state? Today it might be the Chinese Americans, and tomorrow some other ethnic group. In the end, all Americans will be subject to the boot of bigotry and arbitrary police actions.”

Whether Koo’s message resonated with the audience or not, about a dozen people signed the petition, calling on the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico to improve conditions of Lee’s confinement.

Among one of those signing is Chinese American Chung Che Lan, who also donated $50 to Lee’s defense fund.

“He is my brother,” Lan explained. “He is brother of all Chinese Americans.”