Roommates, as the deadly and devastating coronavirus outbreak continues to ravage the U.S.—something equally as disturbing is going on in New York. According to new reports, the state of New York is seeing an alarming rise in hate crimes against Asians, who are being physically assaulted on a regular basis since the virus started spreading.
@NBCNews reports, the New York Police Department recently revealed that hate crimes against residents of Asian descent have risen drastically since the coronavirus initially began. Reported hate crimes against Asians were practically uncommon before the virus outbreak, as the NYPD stated that it hadn’t received any reports of hates crimes against those within the Asian community during the first 2 ½ months of 2020. Additionally, there were only three reported anti-Asian bias crimes in all of New York in 2019—but now those numbers have seen a drastic increase in all five boroughs of the city.
In one reported incident, an Asian couple were attacked on a Brooklyn subway car by a man who repeatedly shouted racial slurs at them. The man then allegedly physically assaulted the woman with an umbrella and punched the man, as of right now, he hasn’t been arrested. In a separate incident, a 51-year-old Asian woman was allegedly attacked by three 15-year-old girls while riding a bus in the Bronx. The three girls, who were later arrested, allegedly yelled racial slurs at her also and they beat her with an umbrella. According to the NYPD, the woman sustained facial injuries requiring her to need stitches. The girls have since been charged with assault as a hate crime.
In a statement regarding the Asian-related hate crimes, the NYPD said this:
“Since the outbreak, the Hate Crime Task Force has investigated 11 cases where all the victims were Asian and targeted due to discrimination based on the Coronavirus pandemic. To date, investigators have apprehended the wanted subjects in seven of these cases.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison, added “We can’t allow this thing to separate us. We have to work together, and we can’t choose a certain community to blame them in regards to what’s going on.”
That sentiment is similar to the one echoed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said:
“This pandemic will not give anyone an excuse to be a racist or xenophobic or bias or attack any individual based on their ethnicity or race. It will not be tolerated in New York State.”
The attorney general has also set up a new crime hotline in an effort to catch those who continue to target the Asian community.
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this?
