As the number of anti-Asian hate crimes continue to rise in North America, two further attacks have been reported in NYC amid protests nationwide.
Over the weekend, reports circulated online that an Asian American mother was attacked in front of her young daughter while on their way to an anti-hate rally. Twitter user Rita Chan was among those to point out the attack, posting photos of the woman speaking with police as her daughter watched on. The rally they were headed to comes after fatal shootings at Atlanta-based spas left eight people dead, six of whom were Asian women.
An attacker reportedly approached the mother and daughter, and asked them to hand over their sign. When the mother refused to do so, she was punched in the face and had her ankle injured during the attack. DeVonn Francis posted a video of the alleged attacker on Instagram, showing them staring out the camera while breathing heavily.
“This person wearing a black nike cap and a red and black Chicago bulls hoodie just assaulted (punched her in her face and left her with a bloody lip. Stole her sign from the protest) an Asian woman and her daughter right after we left the black and asian solidarity rally,” wrote Francis. “We ran after him into the subway and is now heading uptown from Astor place 6 train. If anyone has seen him please DM me and I will have the info forward to the police who are currently working on the case. Please share and repost if you can. This is incredibly fucked up and evil."
The New York Post reports that a similar targeted attack took place in Queens on Saturday, too. At around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, an attacker came out of their grey sudan and shoved a 61-year-old Asian man to the ground. They attempted to fight back, but were stuck in the eye with brass knuckles. His backpack was stolen during the attack, and they have since been taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital for stitches.
Fox 5 New York reports that a 66-year-old Asian man was punched in the face on Saturday morning in an unprovoked attack. The victim said they were approached by a man who yelled at him before punching him in the face, leaving him swollen and bruised.
Despite the nature of the incident, and the worrying rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force has not confirmed whether the attack is being investigated. According to data from Stop AAPI, there have been almost 3,800 incidents of racially-motivated attacks against people of Asian descent from Feb. 2020 to Feb. 2021. Women comprise a larger number of the reported attacks.
