BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota — Over the weekend at the Mall of America, crowds gathered at the Rotunda to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
"What it means to us is it's just a beginning and almost like a fresh start of the new year," said Khoa Ha, president of Tay Phuong Lions.
The group closed out the Lunar New Year celebrations at MOA with a traditional lion dance.
"We go around spreading good luck and good fortune to all the businesses," Ha said.
Lunar New Year is considered one of the most important holidays for many Asian cultures. It celebrates the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. According to the Chinese zodiac, it's the Year of the Rabbit. But in Vietnam, it's the Year of the Cat.
While Lunar New Year events went on Sunday, amid the joy was also sorrow. Saturday night, a gunman killed 10 people and wounded 10 others at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California.
"It's just heartbreaking to find out that it happened on the new year... it's not good news for the beginning of the new year," said David Thammaraksa of Arden Hills. Thammaraksa came out to MOA for Lunar New Year with his wife and two daughters.
The attack happened in a predominantly Asian American community after a night of Lunar New Year festivities in the area.
"It's like we're just kind of on edge when we're trying to enjoy our time and bring happiness to people. It's just sad that we have to have in the back of our mind that anything could happen at any time," said Amy Nguyen, vice president of Tay Phuong Lions.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar responded to the mass shooting and tweeted, "What happened during the Lunar New Year event in Monterey Park is horrific. Another mass shooting, another community in mourning, another stark reminder why we have to do more to stop these attacks."
Gov. Tim Walz has ordered flags at all state buildings in Minnesota be flown at half-staff until sunset on Jan. 26 to honor the lives lost in the shooting.
"Gun violence has no place in our society. Everyone deserves to be safe and free from violence in schools, community gatherings, workplaces, at home, and everywhere in between," Gov. Walz said.
"Unfortunately, gun violence is a real possibility everywhere in the U.S. It's really hard to process because it happened so close to a source of joy for a lot of us for Lunar New Year," said Max Guo, who performed at the Lunar New Year Celebration at MOA. "Of course it's scary that the Mall of America has had its own gun violence incidents recently."
Guo performed on stage with the group K-MOVE — a no-audition, inclusive K-pop dance group in the Twin Cities.
Guo went on to say, "In spite of all these terrible things that are happening... anti-Asian violence and gun violence across the U.S., we're just trying to do the things that bring us a little bit of joy and find those moments of happiness despite everything that's going on."
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