With new land laws, history repeats itself

Afterward, the horse thieves mutilated their bodies, dumped them into the Snake River, stole their mined gold, and burned their camp and equipment. The crime was not discovered until the battered bodies of the Chinese began appearing in the Snake River 65 miles (105 km) from the crime scene.

Just like in the Wyoming massacre, though the identity of the seven killers was known, none was convicted or punished. Soon the case was forgotten until the file was rediscovered in a safe that had been donated to a local county museum in 1995.

A local judge told The Associated Press in 1995 that "the records were more than just lost, they seem to have been hidden. Somebody intentionally tried to keep this story from happening".

Keenly aware that those discriminative laws could fuel hatred and violence toward Asian Americans, Wu said that even if SB 147 does not pass in Texas, the anti-Asian hate fear is a real thing.

"We should start discussing what we need to do (with anti-Asian hate)" after the Texas legislation session ends at the end of this month, he told the Chinese American community.