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Archives: Anti-Asian mob goes on rampage

This day in Vancouver history: Sept. 7, 1907
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Chinatown storefront damaged by the riot.

Tensions over the increase in Asian immigration boils over when more than a thousand supporters of the Asiatic Exclusion League go on a rampage.

After listening to inflammatory speeches at the former city hall, an angry mob carrying banners with slogans such as “Keep Canada White” and “Stop the Yellow Peril” went on a rampage vandalizing businesses and causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage in Chinatown.

They then headed east to Japantown, but most retreated after being met by residents armed with clubs and bottles who fought back. While no deaths were reported in any English media outlets, the Taiwan Daily News reported that several people were killed.