New York investigates a new case of racist violence against an Asian

New York, Mar 22 (EFE) .- The New York police filed charges against a man who was arrested this Sunday for attacking a 68-year-old Asian man in the city’s subway last week, while the State Attorney’s Office continue investigating the event.
Narayange Bodhi, from Sri Lanka, was punched several times in the head knocking him unconscious last Friday afternoon, and the suspect in the assault, Marc Mathieu, 36, was arrested and charged with a crime motivated by hatred, the police confirmed this Monday.
In a court hearing held Monday in New York, prosecutors filed charges of second-degree assault.
According to a witness to the events, George Okrepkie, the suspect approached Bodhi and swore at him, highlighting his race and ethnicity, before punching him, leaving his face bruised and swollen.
This is a new attack against citizens of Asian origin in New York, where several demonstrations were held this weekend to show their rejection of this type of racist assault.
Precisely another woman who was heading towards one of these demonstrations and carrying a poster in support of the Asians was also attacked in the street by a man who is being wanted by the authorities.
In addition, local media reported on Monday that a man urinated on a young Asian woman in the New York subway around noon on Saturday, after which she got off the train.
According to data from the New York Police, the city has gone from registering 3 attacks against citizens of Asian origin in 2019 to 29 last year, the vast majority motivated by prejudices related to the covid-19 pandemic, to which the former president Donald Trump repeatedly referred to it as the “Chinese virus.”
In recent weeks there has been more and more frequent news of attacks against Asians in the US, especially against the elderly, for which civil organizations and prominent figures such as actresses Olivia Munn or Awkwafina have raised their voices in awareness campaigns.
The organization “Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate”, from the beginning of the pandemic until the end of 2020 registered almost 2,800 complaints of “anti-Asian hatred” throughout the country. , 240 of them including a physical attack.

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