New York police have arrested a man who viciously attacked a 65-year-old Filipino woman near Times Square as she was walking to church on Monday. Video footage shows the man kicked the woman in her stomach and then repeatedly stomped on her face while reportedly yelling anti-Asian slurs. The assailant walked away as bystanders, including security guards at a luxury apartment building, did nothing in response. New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang condemned the attack.
Andrew Yang: “An elderly Asian woman walking the streets of Hell’s Kitchen could easily have been my mother, because that’s where we live. And so, when I saw this video, that is who I thought of. My children actually play in that playground across the street from that apartment building regularly. So, seeing this happen in my neighborhood hit very close to home.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered the Justice Department to conduct a 30-day review of what he called a disturbing trend of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.