NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — There was a march Saturday against hate crimes targeting Asian Americans, which have been on the rise since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Demonstrators chanted “stop the violence, stop the hate” as they marched from Columbus Park in Chinatown to Washington Square Park.

Community activists say people of Asian descent are being blamed for the spread of the coronavirus.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 2,000 reported hate crimes against Asian Americans nationwide.

“There’s been reports of Asians being attacked or verbally harassed,” community activist Shirley Ng said. “People are judging us by our skin. They think we’re the virus or we brought it here, but we have nothing to do with it.”

The “Stop the Hate” campaign includes posters in several languages explaining how to report an attack.

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