A video has been making the rounds on social media that shows an Asian man being beaten by a group of men inside a lower Manhattan subway station. From the video it appears that the incident happened at the Fulton Street Station.
The Asian man was held up like a human punching bag, while two men punched and slapped him repeatedly. None of the people present at the station were opposing the action as they continued cheering the men.
The incident came to light when the video posted by a third-party website on Friday with claims that the man was getting beaten up because he attempted to sexually assault a girl on the train.
"You touching girls, you touching girls — little sisters and all that, moms and everything. You filthy, son," one of the men from the video was heard shouting.
Another one can be heard saying that he has a daughter before landing a sharp smack on the man's face. "I got a daughter," he said. "If the cops lock me up, I'm paying my own bail."
According to the NY Post, the investigation into the whole incident began when the footage was shared by the Twitter account of "Asian Crime Report" on Sunday and retweeted by the NYPD Asian Hate Crimes Task Force. The police officials have not made it clear if they will tackle the matter as a hate crime against the Asian American. Describing the incident as an act of vigilantism, the officials are examining the viral video as well.
Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in the US have spiked especially since the covid-19 outbreak. The Asian American population had to endure physical violence and harassment along with verbal abuse as several political figures in the nation branded the virus as "the Chinese Virus."
As per the Rolling Stone, from March 19th to December 31st, 2020, approximately 2,808 firsthand reports of anti-Asian hate crimes were made from 47 states. Fortunately, organizations like Advancing Justice-AAJC have stepped up to protect and fight for the Asian community as more and more cases of children and senior citizens being attacked in broad daylight emerged.
With a commitment to stop the hate crimes, the Biden administration has invited the world-famous K-pop boy band BTS at the White House on 31 May to address the problems of widespread Anti-Asian hate crimes and discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion.
