On December 30th, 2020, Christian Hall, an Asian American teenager, was in the midst of a mental health crisis. He was distraught and overwhelmed, and called 911 to report "a suicidal man", but it was actually a call for help for himself.
What arrived was a military solution to a mental health problem. The Pennsylvania State Troopers ended up resorting to what they are primarily trained and equipped to do - using force to end the incident and killing Christian. This horrific outcome was preventable.
Since Christian Hall was killed, The Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) has been working with a core group of volunteers - including Christian's parents - to identify solutions and ensure this never happens again.
Now, we are ready to launch a public campaign to do just that. We are advocating for mobile mental health crisis units across the state of PA, focusing on smaller cities such as the one Christian was from. This program would prevent so many needless tragedies and also lighten the burden for law enforcement in PA.
We believe that:
If you believe in these values and a vision of a Pennsylvania that works for all of us as well, and want to join the fight for Asian Pacific Islander mental health access, sign up below and let us know how you'd like to be involved!