New York City Police Department authorities are searching for a man after a 52-year-old woman was shoved to the ground in a possible racially charged attack in the boroughs on Tuesday.
Surveillance video showed the suspect hurling a box at the woman before sending her plunging to the pavement in the brazen assault. The man reportedly yelled expletives and racial profanity before the woman hit the floor and went unconscious.
“Get the f— out of my way,” he said before the beating.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: 52-year-old Asian woman violently shoved yesterday in Flushing, Queens. Witness says assailant threw box of spoons at her, yelling slurs before he shoved her. She blacked out, needed stitches on her forehead. Tonight at 11p #StopAsianHateCrimes #ProtectOurElders pic.twitter.com/39FGzlKT7I
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) February 18, 2021
The 52-year-old was pictured in a local hospital with a deep gash on her forehead, drawing condemnation from community figures that the attack was a hate crime.
EXCLUSIVE: This is the gash on the forehead of the 52-year-old Asian woman violently shoved yesterday in Flushing, Queens. She blacked out. Her son tells me she’s out & about today running errands. She refuses to live in fear. Tonight at 11p #StopAsianHateCrimes #ProtectOurElders pic.twitter.com/8kr6T7091w
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) February 17, 2021
Captain John O’Connell of the NYPD’s 109th Precinct tweeted a photograph of the purported attacker wearing a red sweatshirt and matching sunglasses.
?Wanted? The suspect is wanted in regards to assault that took place on Roosevelt Avenue, on 2/16/21. After a verbal dispute the suspect did grab the complainant & throw her down causing injury to her head. Any info? Call or DM @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. All ? are anonymous. pic.twitter.com/ugQhppKvKZ
— NYPD 109th Precinct (@NYPD109Pct) February 17, 2021
“This is awful and unacceptable – NYPD should treat this is a hate crime, catch the perpetrator and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” former Democratic presidential candidate and New York City mayoral hopeful Andrew Yang wrote. “No one should be targeted on the basis of their race. Anti-Asian sentiment is rising and there is no place for it in New York.”
Two Asian or Asian American women were beaten in separate Tuesday incidents on borough subway cars. One 58-year-old was punched in the face, and the other, 71, was struck multiple times in the head and torso.
Anti-Asian crimes have jumped in number following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, a February report suggested.
“Anti-Asian hate incidents increased dramatically in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and then surged after the election of Donald J. Trump. South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Middle Eastern communities all faced recurring cycles of harassment and violence,” it read. “Since the onset of the pandemic, however, anti-Asian hate incidents now primarily directed at East Asians have skyrocketed according to both official and unofficial reports.”
