I am shocked by the sentencing of Haoyang Yu, as are many members of the community. This case will go down in history as a classic example of racial profiling and guilt by association, in which general concerns about a foreign government are used to justify the prosecution of a US citizen. It sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the security and equal protection of Americans of Chinese descent. 

The case started with an anonymous tip to the FBI that turned out to be linked to a competitor. It is sad that the government was not willing to drop the case when most of the evidence was proven factually false after three years of investigation and a month-long trial. Such relentless pursuit of false threats only makes our country less safe when the energy should be focused on real threats, and it is a huge waste of taxpayer money.

Haoyang is not a threat to national security nor society. He doesn’t belong in jail. On the contrary, he has been a valuable member of the community who risked his own safety to save a 14-year-old boy who fell through the ice.

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