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"Dude - wrong Asian American family"

Daily Mail UK has wrongly used an image of Grace Meng and her family in a report about an Asian American harassment story.

The British tabloid was reporting on an incident in which an Asian American father and his children were harassed by a white New York couple.

42-year-old Michael Kim was walking back from a hike on Fire Island with his two sons when the couple approached them.

When Kim refused to engage with them, the woman reported Kim to an officer, telling him that the Asian American father was abusing his own children.

The man of the couple said “this isn’t China” to Kim, who then started recording.

In the video, Kim can be heard saying “please leave me alone, you are harassing me.”

Walking away, the couple say “please don’t harass your children, go to another town, I don’t want to see you.”

@sporock#Fireisland isn’t for #Asian people according to #Ken and #Karen #racism♬ original sound – sporock

In the Daily Mail’s report of the incident, the paper quoted Rep Grace Meng’s response to the assault.

“So 🤬 sick of constantly being questioned of where we’re from or why we’re here. Secret’s out: they’re letting Asians and other POC onto Fire Island and other nice places too. Disgusting smirk on her face like she thinks she’s more American than this family,” Meng tweeted.

However, the Daily Mail also featured an image of Meng’s family alongside an image of the couple in the video, alluding that the pictured family were the ones being assaulted.

Meng called out the paper, tweeting a screenshot of the original article, stating “Dude – wrong Asian American family. Please change your picture.”

The Congresswoman’s followers expressed their outrage below Meng’s tweet.

“If it’s not a pic of Asians in Flushing whenever the press talks about coronavirus, or misattributing your photo to another Asian American politician, or in this case, a completely wrong photo… Asians are so deliberately erased and invisibilized,” tweeted one person.

“This is reprehensible!! So sorry that you and your family are on receiving end of such irresponsible reporting Congresswoman,” another replied.

In other news, Asian American leaders have expressed concern that the upcoming COVID-19 origin report will trigger another wave of anti-Asian racism.