By Spectrum News Staff Batavia PUBLISHED 8:10 PM ET Mar. 06, 2021 PUBLISHED 8:10 PM EST Mar. 06, 2021
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A Batavia man disappeared in South America two weeks ago and his friends are pleading for help to find him.
Travis Sackett is an activist who has served several terms with both AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.
Sackett was in-between assignments volunteering on a farm in Pimampiro, a village the northern part of Ecuador. However, he left for a hike February 21 and never returned.
Sackett s family is working with officials in the states, but friends at home say they feel powerless to help.
That s why a group of Sackett s former Peace Corps colleagues are working to raise awareness and keep pressure on the Ecuadorian government.
One community board member at the rally urged people not to stand by when they see these attacks happen. I do not want your sympathy. I need your action, I need your unity, I need you to speak up when you see something an Asian being harassed you ought to call the police,” Manhattan Community Board No. 3 member Karlin Chan said. All these words of sympathy ‘Oh, the poor man’ we need your support. Our businesses need your support, not the xenophobia.
The rally came after police said a man punched a 56-year-old Asian man in the face at the East Broadway stop in Manhattan on the F line on Tuesday. It s being investigated as a hate crime.