A man spit at a woman and her three kids and yelled anti-Asian slurs at them aboard a subway in Manhattan this week in what police are calling another anti-Asian hate crime.
The attack happened around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday aboard a southbound 5 train near Midtown. The suspect started yelling anti-Asian slurs at the 44-year-old mom, who had her three children with her. According to the NY Post, he called her an “Asian slut,” told her she “brought the virus,” and demanded, “go back to your country.”
He spit at the family twice, and when the woman tried to record him with her phone, he knocked her phone out her hand, according to the police department. He then opened the train doors between cars, and kicked it out onto the tracks as the train was moving.
The suspect then left the train at the Times Square stop, and fled westbound on West 41st Street toward 8th Avenue.
The woman was taken to Mount Sinai West in stable condition.
Police describe the suspect at approximately 50 to 55 years old, 6-feet tall, 150 to 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark camouflage sweater, dark sweatpants, and black sandals.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
This incident comes amid a rise of anti-Asian violence—both in New York City and nationwide—that experts have attributed to pandemic-fueled racism. As of Wednesday, there have been at least 33 anti-Asian hate crimes recorded by the NYPD so far this year, up from 28 in all of 2020.
Last week, a suspect was arrested after he allegedly brutally attacked a 65-year-old Asian woman in Midtown in broad daylight while shouting racist slurs.
