The New York Police Department (NYPD) is looking for a racist attacker who brutally beat an Asian man in suspected hate-driven attack on Monday morning. Shocking video shows the unidentified attacker beating up the subway passenger and holding him in a chokehold inside a train but no one comes to his help.
In the video, punches are flying between the two men. Eventually, the other man is seen repeatedly striking the Asian man before choking him. The condition of the man assaulted is not known. The NYPD's hate crimes unit tweeted the harrowing footage from the incident on Monday.
Racist Attack
The NYPD is looking for the suspect who attacked the Asian man all of a sudden. No one steps in to help to the attack, according to the footage. The footage begins with the two men already exchanging blows as others on the subway train are mute spectators. The victim is punched at least 10 times before being held in a chokehold.
A witness to the incident can be heard telling fellow passengers at the end of the clip that the victim had called the suspect the N-word before he was attacked. Sharing the footage @AsianDawn4 wrote Sunday: "A person violently beats up and punches an Asian male in the head repeatedly in a Manhattan Bound (J) train at Kosciuszko Street Station, chokes him afterwards until he is unconscious."
The video ends with the Asian man passing out and the other man walking off the train at the Kosciuszko Street Station. Police said: "We need the public's help. The NYPD is aware of this video and is investigating."
Police Trying to Track Attacker
So far police have been unsuccessful in tracking the suspect. Hate crimes have been on the rise over the past year in the United States, with Asians becoming the target in most cases. New York City went from three incidents to 27, Los Angeles from seven to 15, and Denver had three incidents in 2020 — the first reported there in six years.
More than 3,000 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting center for Asian American Pacific Islanders, and its partner advocacy groups, since mid-March 2020. A crowd gathered in Bensonhurst Monday morning to denounce the recent rise in Asian hate. Two women who spoke at the rally say men spit on them, days apart.
"I believe I was targeted because I'm Asian American, because I'm an easy target," Vanessa Lam said.
