Justice for Christian Hall

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 community members had publicly available access to mental health services, it would increase the trust levels in public services. This would also allow for public services to intervene in crises earlier. This is especially crucial in a time where people have a strong distrust for public services.
  •  People in crisis need comprehensive aid for their mental health, which law enforcement agencies are not prepared for or trained to provide. 
  • These mental health resources also mean that not only would the individuals going through a crisis would be better protected, but it would also make the situation safer for law enforcement as well.
  • In a Commonwealth where 78% of our community speaks a language other than English at home, all of these services need to be linguistically accessible and culturally competent for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

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! 

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