UNDATED (WSAU-WAOW) The Hmong community around the country has been following the Dylan Yang case. Many believe he has been treated harshly by the criminal justice system.
Two hours into Dylan Yang’s sentencing, his older brother, Ethan Yang, couldn’t find the words to sum up how his family felt. “Mixed emotions, fight’s not over yet we’re starting to…actually, actually, I don’t know. It’s a whole lot of emotions, mixed feelings,” Ethan Yang said.
Ethan Yang said the maximum sentence — 60 years — would have been devistating to his family.
“Distraught over the fact that two lives could be potentially lost here,” Ethan Yang said.
The sentencing brought in protesters, Yang supporters, church groups, activists, and students who skipped school who filled the courtroom as well as the overflow room, where the sentencing was streamed. A member from the Marathon County board felt for the Powell family as he watched the live stream.
“My heart goes out to Mr. Isaiah Powell’s family, he was a brother, he was a son, you know, whatever happened that day, they all made bad decisions, but without a doubt he still has a family,” Yee Leng Xiong told WAOW NewsLine Nine.
Activists from Minnesota and California traveled to Wausau and spoke on how they believed Yang was treated unfairly by the justice system.
“It’s about the process of the judicial system, how this was handled from the beginning, how Dylan was apprehended, how he was questioned without the presence of an attorney, without the presence of his mother,” Tou Ger Bennett Xiong from St. Paul, Minnesota, said.