It’s been more than a month since Min Yang lost his son in a tragedy.
Yang appeared on the Korea Daily’s English-language podcast “All Rise,” on June 18. Yang is the father of Yong Yang, who was shot and killed by a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer on May 2.
In the podcast, Yang criticized the LAPD and the LA County Department of Mental Health, pointing out their failure to properly handle the mentally ill and the lack of an adequate response system that led to his son’s death.
“They’re supposed to be professionals, but they weren’t at all,” Yang said. “The way they handled the situation that day, they were more ignorant than the patient or the patient’s family who called for help.”
The Korea Daily’s podcast is hosted by Sidney Sohn and Alex Tsao of Venerable law firm.
Sohn emphasized the importance of communication. “That’s one of the problems with government agencies, whether they’re law enforcement or the mental health department, dealing with minority communities,” Sohn said. “Even for me, if I were to call them, I would just think that ‘The government will help me,’ and I would have no clue what kind of process they’re going to go through.”
The podcast also discussed the need to establish clear protocols for law enforcement to respond to mental health calls, provide training for law enforcement to understand and communicate with minority cultures, and educate the Korean-American community about the role and perceptions of law enforcement.
“When they say they can use force, they should have taser guns too. Which parent would understand what that really means and then agree to shoot their kid?” Yang said, adding, “My son had clearly expressed that he didn’t want the police to come in, and it wasn’t a crime scene. He hadn’t broken any laws, so can they really say the police’s response was professional to provoke him and force open the door to go in?”
“In American society, mental illness is not something to be ashamed of, but in the Asian community, they try to hide it,” Tsao said. “I want them to know that it’s not something to be ashamed of and that it’s rather a courageous thing to seek help.”
Yong Yang’s older brother, Yin Yang, also appeared on the podcast to speak about his brother’s death. The podcast featuring the Yang family will be uploaded on June 28 on the Korea Daily website or on YouTube.
BY YEOL JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
