After a weekend of rallies against hate, attacks against AAPI continue

SCREEN CAPTURE

Security cameras captured the attack. The security guard, right, ignored the incident.
Video of the incident is below.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Updated 10:15, April 2 to include name of the victim.

A 65-year old Asian woman on her way to church was viciously attacked Monday morning in New York City.

The attack was shown on a store's security camera. The victim was shoved to the ground as the attacker shouted, "F*** You. You don't belong here."

The man kicked her while she was down and stomped on her head and kicked her again before leaving the scene.

The attack got the attention of security guards inside the establishment where the camera was located. The video shows one guard looking up at the attack and then returning to the task he was doing. Another guard came into view and shut the glass door as the attacker left the scene.

The woman, Filipino American Vilma Kari, was taken to NYU Langone Hospital with swelling and pain. She suffered a fractured pelvis in the attack, but is in stable condition, according to police. She was released from the hospital on Tuesday.

“We’ve gone from being invisible to being seen as sub-human. We just want to be seen as American like everyone else,” tweeted Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y. after viewing the video.

The attack comes after a weekend of rallies and marches to protest the growing violence against Asian Americans. Thousands of people took part in the rallies that took place in cities throughout the nation.

The demonstrations on Saturday were part of a continuation of a planned National Day of Action on Friday, organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, known as ANSWER. The national organization was founded after 9/11.

The demonstrations were sparked by a year-long growth in anti-Asian attacks because they are being blamed for bringing the coronavirus pandemic to the U.S.'s shores. They were a way to bring attention to the plight facing AAPI today.

The shooting spree in Atlanta that killed eight people, including six Asian women was the impetus for the most recent demonstrations and a statement from President Biden condemning the hate and violence targeting AAPI. "It's un-American. It must stop!" said the President. 

However, the attacks continue. In New York City, there has reportedly been a 1,300 percent increase in hate attacks against AAPI. 

There have been 33 hate crimes committed against AAPI victims in New York City  since the start of the year. The NYPD said that officers will now walk the streets undercover to capture suspect attackers.

In the last two weeks, alone: 

• Three days after the tragedy in Atlanta, a 68-year old Sri Lankan man was punched in the head while riding the subway in New York City. The attacker yelled racial slurs at him.
• On March 20, a 66-year-old Asian man was also punched, this time in the face, on the Lower East Side.
• Tthree more attacks were reported on March 21: a Chinese-American mother was hit twice in the face after she finished attending an anti-Asian hate protest in Union Square with her 7-year-old daughter; a 41-year-old Asian woman was thrown to the ground in Midtown, and a 54-year-old Asian woman was hit in the face with a metal pipe by a stranger while walking on the Lower East Side.
• A suspect used anti-Asian slurs at a woman on a train in Queens on March 23. He smashed her phone when she started recording him. 
• On March 26, in Midtown, a man shouted anti-Asian slurs at a 65-year-old Asian woman and waved an unknown object toward her. 
• The next day, an Asian woman was struck by a man who made anti-Asian statements in a Midtown subway station.

The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating all these incidents.

#StopAAPIhate, a website collecting anti-Asian reports says over 3800 attacks against AAPI have occurred in the year since the coronavirus forced health guidelines of social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing.

The same agency reports that in January and February of this year, there have been 500 incidents of hate reported nationwide.