San Francisco AAPI community rallies, calling out banks supporting gun manufacturers

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Members of San Francisco's AAPI community calling out banks backing gun manufacturers.

The AAPI Victory Alliance launching its campaign it the heart of Chinatown putting pressure, specifically on San Francisco-based Wells Fargo to cut all ties with the industry.

"As Asian Americans, we have the power to stop a lot of this. We have a choice in where we invest our dollars and where we invest dollars and where we deposit our paychecks," said Varun Nikore, Executive Director with AAPI Victory Alliance.

Mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay involving the AAPI community propelling the campaign and the youth-led March For Our Lives is getting behind them.

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"We're supporting efforts around their campaign to essentially call out Wells Fargo for funding the gun industry and really emphasize the they stand in solidarity with the AAPI community yet they're funding the same weapons that impact folks in that community," said Zeenat Yahya, Director of Policy, March For Our Lives.

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In a statement, Wells Fargo says in part:

"We listen carefully to all voices and all points of view in the ongoing firearms debate and take each of them seriously. Our communities, schools, places of business and neighborhoods must be kept safe from gun violence."

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In 2018 Bloomberg News reported Wells Fargo as the gun industry's top financer -- the bank's CEO saying in 2020 that its relationship with the NRA was declining, but activists like 16-year Anya Patri say it's not enough.

"I think that holding our corporate sponsors accountable is so important to call them out in rallies like this and why everyone needs to get involved," said Ayna Patri with March For Our Lives.

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