Attacker kicked and stomped on Asian American man's head repeatedly in NY
27 April, 2021
A 61-year-old Asian American man was attacked by a guy who kicked him repeatedly in the top in East Harlem, police said.
The man was collecting cans when he was attacked from behind, knocked to the ground and kicked in the head shortly after 8 pm on Friday (Apr 23). He was taken up to Harlem Hospital in a crucial but stable condition, the New York Police Department said.
Surveillance video released by the authorities appears to show the attacker stomping on the victim's head. The police department's hate crimes task force is investigating the attack, the most recent in a troubling rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York and around the united states.
Police did not release the victim's name, but multiple news outlets recognized him as Yao Pan Ma, a former restaurant worker who lost his job as a result of the pandemic and was collecting cans to create ends meet.
The victim’s wife, Baozhen Chen, 57, pleaded for police to find her husband’s attacker within an interview with the brand new York Post.
"Please capture him at the earliest opportunity and make him pay,” Chen said in Mandarin through a translator.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio called the assault “outrageous” on Twitter.
“Make no mistake, we will see the perpetrator and they'll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of regulations,” de Blasio said Saturday.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday he'd direct the state hate crimes task force to provide assistance in investigating Friday's attack in East Harlem.
“I’m sickened to understand of just one more bigoted act of violence against an Asian American man,” the governor said in a statement. “This is not who we are as New Yorkers, and we will not let these cowardly acts of hate against members of our NY family intimidate us."
The attack recalled last month's assault near Times Square when a woman who immigrated from the Philippines was knocked to the ground and stomped on by an attacker who shouted anti-Asian slurs. A parolee convicted of killing his mother almost two decades ago was arrested for the reason that attack.
THE UNITED STATES Senate passed legislation the other day targeted at fighting the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The measure would expedite the review of hate crimes at the Justice Department and offer support for local police in response to thousands of reported violent incidents in the past year.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
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