The NYPD on Tuesday tweeted a video of a man violently beating a woman of Asian descent in the middle of Manhattan and issued a search notice, the latest in a series of attacks against members of this community in the United States.
In the images, taken around noon on Monday by video surveillance cameras of a building near Times Square, a woman, 65 years old according to police, is seen walking when suddenly a man approaches her, makes her fall from a shove and he kicks his head several times before walking away.
The video also shows another man observing the scene from inside the building, quickly joined by a third. When the aggressor walks away, one of these men closes the door of the building without doing anything to help the woman, who is lying on the ground.
🚨WANTED for ASSAULT: Do you know this guy? On 3/29/21 at approx 11:40 AM, in front of 360 W 43 St in Manhattan, the suspect punched and kicked a 65-year-old woman while making anti-Asian statements. Any info? DM @NYPDTips or anonymously call them at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/WRE4kSHtRG
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 30, 2021
The victim, whose identity has not been released, was hospitalized with a broken pelvis and multiple injuries, police said. His condition was stable on Tuesday.
The assailant made racist insults against his victim, police said, and the specialized unit for such crimes is in charge of the investigation.
This same unit continues with the search for another man who beat a woman in a subway station in Manhattan on Saturday, shortly before 9 p.m.
The woman was not seriously injured and refused medical assistance. On that occasion, the attacker also barked anti-Asian insults, a New York police spokesman said.
Like other American metropolises, New York has seen an increase in violence against people of Asian descent in recent months.
On March 15, a man shot and killed eight people, including six Asian women, at various spas in the Atlanta area.
The NYPD has strengthened its presence in neighborhoods with a large Asian population and voluntary patrols have been formed to reassure their neighbors.
Several demonstrations in solidarity with this sector of the population have been carried out with the presence of personalities, among them the influential Reverend Al Sharpton and candidates for mayor of the city.
New York has more than a million inhabitants of Asian origin.
In the week of March 15-21 alone, the police recorded nine “hate-motivated” crimes, compared to three in the same period in 2020, according to official statistics.