Auckland man claims police ignored his complaint over racist attack

Wednesday, 8 November 2017

Sam Xiao Han says he was racially abused in Henderson and police have done nothing about it.

An Auckland man reeling from a racial attack says police ignored his complaint.

Sam Xiao Han, 35, claimed his family was racially attacked by a man outside St Pierre's Sushi at Lincoln North Shopping Centre on October 29.

The alleged incident happened outside of St Pierre's Sushi on Universal Drive in Henderson.

Han said the man yelled racist and obscene comments about Chinese people and Asians, told them to go back to their country before punching his car window and door.

His wife and six-year-old son also heard the tirade of abuse, he said.

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Han said he called police immediately but when he followed up his complaint at the Henderson Police Station, he said he was met with an unsympathetic and unprofessional response.

His case was initially classed as 'disorderly behaviour' but later filed as 'wilful damage'.

There was no mention of a hate crime.

'I'm a bit surprised that police are not investigating racially motivated abuse or hate crime. There's no mention about this from the beginning - maybe it's just too hard to prove, I don't know,' Han said.

'All I know is that when I was in that car being yelled at and getting my car kicked in, I was scared and taking a video was the last thing on my mind.'

According the New Zealand Police website, police did not tolerate any crime against a person based on race.

These offences were known as hate crime and were 'vigorously investigated'.

A police spokesperson said Han followed the appropriate protocol in reporting the incident and they were investigating the matter further.

'If anyone believes they are the victim of a racial attack or property damage, they are encouraged to report the incident to their local police station and it will be investigated appropriately,' police said.

However, Han said the police officer at the front desk was unhelpful and said they couldn't make an arrest just because someone had damaged his car.

'She asked me what I wanted to happen from there. I was surprised by this question and said maybe they could go find the guy that attacked me.'

Han, who was a New Zealand citizen, said it was the first time he had been racially attacked.

'You hear of these things on the news [and] through social media and you don't think it would happen to you.'