A New York man was charged with a hate crime in connection to a violent attack on a 55-year-old Asian woman.
Alexander Wright, 48, was charged with assault as a hate crime after video footage caught an incident where he allegedly punched the victim so hard she fell to the ground.
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“My first thought was definitely wondering whether or not she was OK. I was relieved to see that some people did go and rush to her aid,” New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou told CBS 2.
The suspect, who is black, lives in a homeless shelter and was found with what is believed to be the drug K2, according to investigators.
This was just sent to me from my constituent. This just happened in my district in Chinatown. He has been arrested and our precinct is investigating. pic.twitter.com/sxNfCbrlza
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 31, 2021
A man wearing an orange hoodie and blue jacket can be seen walking by and sucker-punching a woman who fell to the ground, a video Niou posted on Twitter showed. The man walked away as others came to help the woman on the ground.
The woman was treated at a nearby hospital and is expected to recover from the attack.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans increased by 223% in New York City in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2020, according to an April study from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
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Hate crimes against Asian individuals are up 353% since 2020, the data showed. There have been 86 incidents in 2021 compared to 19 in 2020.
