Yesterday, New York City police tweeted video of a man violently beating an Asian woman on Monday in the heart of Manhattan and called for witnesses.
This new and terrible attack joins a series of anti-asian violence that set the United States ablaze. The images were captured by surveillance cameras shortly before noon from inside a building near Times Square. They show a 65-year-old woman, according to the police – whose identity has not been specified – walking when suddenly a man approaches her, knocks her to the ground and then hits her several times. from foot to head before walking away.
WANTED for ASSAULT: Do you know this guy? On 3/29/21 at approx 11:40 AM, in front of 360 W 43 St in Manhattan, the suspect punched and kicked a 65-year-old woman while making anti-Asian statements. Any info? DM @NYPDTips or anonymously call them at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/WRE4kSHtRG
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 30, 2021
The video also shows a man attending the scene from inside the building, quickly joined by another. As the assailant walks away, we see in the last seconds of the video one of the men closing the door of the building.
Anti-Asian insults uttered
Hospitalized with a broken pelvis, the victim suffered from multiple injuries. His condition was stable yesterday.
Also according to the police, the man who assaulted her uttered anti-Asian slurs against her, and the unit specializing in racist crimes is in charge of the investigation.
That same unit is still looking for another man who punched a woman in a Manhattan subway station on Saturday night. The woman was not seriously injured and declined medical assistance. Again, the assailant uttered anti-Asian slurs, an NYPD spokesperson said.
An “absolutely appalling” aggression
Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York, on Tuesday described the attack of the day before as “horrible” and “disgusting”, while the governor of the state considered it “absolutely appalling”.
“Violence against the Asian community is unfortunately becoming an epidemic in our state and our country, it must stop,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo in a statement. “We must face it together and speak out with one voice against hatred and violence in all its forms, wherever we see it.” For his part, the mayor called on anyone who witnessed such violence to “literally shout” to “disturb” the attacker and “attract attention”.
Note that it very often happens that the victim, when in a state of shock (also called “state of dumbfoundedness”), is unable to cry out or call for help.
–
–
Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has faced an upsurge in crimes targeting people of Asian origin. This violence is reinforced by certain words used by former President Donald Trump, who notably described the Covid-19 as a “Chinese virus” or “Chinese plague”.
On March 15, a man shot dead eight people, including six women of Asian origin, in the Atlanta area. According to official statistics, New York City police recorded nine “hate motivated” crimes in the week of March 15-21 alone, compared to three in the same period of 2020.
–
