Who owns Island Personal Training? California gym blasted for calling Asian massage parlors 'dirty'
A gym chain in northern California is under fire for reportedly featuring a rant on its website about “shady” and “dirty” Asian massage parlors. Community members in Alameda lashed out at the gym chain after it attacked Asian Americans with offensive language.
Alameda's Erica Peck was one of the many commentators on a Facebook group page who discussed how the owner of Island Personal Training described his company's massage services. The rant blatantly promotes hatred towards Asians. The gym's website reportedly advertises their massage therapists as people who "speak English...kind of rare for the field round these parts", and also says that they're not like "shady Asian massage parlor."
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Who owns Island Personal Training?
Jason Wilson owns Island Personal Training. ABC7 reported that when they went to the Alameda location to speak to Jason Wilson, he seemed unwilling to talk about the incident and the hate the business seems to be spreading
One of the founders of STOPAAPIHate and an executive director with Chinese for Affirmative Action Cynthia Choi said, "It's very triggering given what happened with the Atlanta area shooting. We're coming up on that anniversary where Asian women and Asian businesses were targeted."
"This kind of racist rhetoric and commentary adds to the persistent stereotypes that are not only offensive but really put our communities in danger," she added. After ABC7 visited the gym's Alameda location, the business' website, as well as its Facebook page, seem to be down.
Anti-Asian violence across the US is on the rise. In a horrifying incident last month, a homeless man allegedly pushed an Asian woman in front of an oncoming subway train to her death at Times Square. The episode unfolded on January 15 about nine minutes after the deranged man was caught on video on the platform at the Times Square station on West 42nd Street and Broadway.
Earlier in 2021, an unidentified young man was seen sucker-punching an elderly Asian-American woman. The horrific incident occurred in Queens, New York City on May 26. Caught on surveillance footage, the attack was dubbed as a hate crime.
In March 2021, 38-year-old convicted killer Brandon Elliot assaulted 65-year-old Filipina woman Vilma Kari in broad daylight. He screamed anti-Asian slurs at her as he knocked her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly. The horrifying attack left Kari with severe head injuries and a broken pelvis. Elliot was sentenced in 2002 for murdering his mother in front of his minor sister, but he was out on parole at the time of the racist attack.
