Suni Lee: I was pepper sprayed and called racial slurs in an anti-Asian attack in Los Angeles

People

The Olympic gold medalist and Dancing with the Stars competitor told Pop Sugar that the incident happened last week. While waiting for an Uber after a night out with her girlfriends, who are all of Asian descent, they were startled by a group speeding by in a car yelling racist slurs like "ching chong" and insisting they "go back to where they came from." One passenger, Suni said, sprayed her arm with pepper spray as the car sped off. "I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off," she recalled. "I didn't do anything to them, and having the reputation, it's so hard because I didn't want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen." Having grown up in a tight-knit community full of Hmong Americans like herself, she struggles to wrap her head around these hateful crimes. It's difficult to speak up about uncomfortable topics like racial injustice, especially at her age, but she knows that using her voice makes a difference."