Kenneth Eng, who lost his job at the Fang Family’s AsianWeek newspaper in February for a column he wrote headlined “Why I Hate Black People,” has moved to New York, where he has been jailed twice — on charges of harassing a neighbor and because police wanted him locked up after he threatened a rampage at New York University’s commencement.
The incidents are detailed in the May 10 New York Daily News, Tuesday’s Village Voice and today’s SF Chronicle.
Eight hours after the executions of 32 students at Virginia Tech, Eng posted a grainy video of himself on YouTube, saying the shootings were the “funniest thing I ever read in my life,” according to the Voice. He also demanded credit for the shootings, claiming that triggerman Cho Seung-hui was inspired by his writings.
In the wake of Eng’s Feb. 23 column at AsianWeek, that paper not only fired him but the editor who was supervising him, Samson Wong, became a consultant to the publication. Ted Fang, an owner of AsianWeek, appeared at a news conference with San Francisco Rev. Amos Brown to apologize. AsianWeek also published a front page apology.