A New York man was caught on video ranting against Asians and blaming them for the coronavirus pandemic. He called them 'filthy', adding that they do not belong to the country. The incident took place on Saturday, at a 7-Eleven convenience store.
The act was caught on camera by Sungmin Kwon, who was yelled at and shoved. He described the incident and shared the videos in a Facebook post on Saturday.
Describing the incident, Kwon wrote that it happened when he went to the local 7-Eleven store to get snacks. That is when the man "went on a disgusting racist against Asians", blamed them for the coronavirus pandemic and called them filthy.
That is when Kwon "called him out for his b***s**t", but in turn was assaulted. He kicked and shoved him and hurled racist slurs. Kwon wrote that he wanted to hit him hard, but he did not want to be arrested.
He wrote that the "racist s**t is getting f**k**g tiring". "It's frustrating" that such incidents are still prevalent and "trashy ignorant racist" people live amongst us, he added. He said that he had caught the man's face on camera, had his license plate number and hoped that the police would catch him soon. Both the videos of the incident that Kwon shared on his Facebook page have been watched more than 45,000 times.
What did the police say?
The incident is being investigated by the New York City Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force, NBC News reported. Police spokeswoman, Detective Sophia Mason, said that officers responded to a 911 call at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, over a dispute at the convenience store.
She said that Kwon told the police that the man had yelled at and shoved him "causing him alarm and annoyance". No one was reported injured and the unnamed suspect fled the scene on his gray Jeep Cherokee, the police statement added.
