VIDEO: Asian women attacked from behind by hammer-wielding suspect on NYC sidewalk



New York City police are on the hunt for a suspect they say attacked two Asian women with a hammer on a Manhattan sidewalk Sunday night.

NYPD Hate Crimes posted a video on Twitter of the attack, which took place in the 400 block of West 42nd Street.

What are the details?

Police said the two Asian women — ages 31 and 29 — were walking on the sidewalk around 8:40 p.m. when an unknown individual demanded they remove their masks and then struck the 31-year-old in the head with a hammer resulting in a cut.

Video shows the suspect approaching the women from behind and appearing to unleash the first hammer strike in the back of the head of one woman.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

The unknown individual then appears to strike with the hammer at least three more times.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

But video shows that soon the hammer apparently is dropped and falls to the sidewalk.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

And one of the victims picks up the hammer and appears to dare the attacker to try them again.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

Amazingly the attacker — who loses both shoes in the melee — continues to jaw with the victims and appears to threaten to come at them again.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDHateCrimes

But the victims soon walk away from the scene as the attacker hollers and glares at them and puts her shoes back on.

Here are pair of closeups of the attacker:

Image source: NYPDHateCrimes

Police said to call 1-800-577-TIPS if you have information. Video of the attack is below:

Video from Sunday, May 2nd attack on two Asian females, 31 and 29, who were walking on the sidewalk when an unknown… https://t.co/mZiCwsKH71

— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) 1620086072.0

Physical attacks against Asians have been spiking in New York City for most of 2021:

Sickening head-stomping assault of Asian man, 61, caught on video, heartbroken wife demands justice



An abominable head-stomping assault in New York City that left a 61-year-old Asian man in critical condition was captured on surveillance video. In an effort to bring the assailant to justice, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force released footage of the brutal attack that took place in East Harlem on Friday night.

"Fri. April 23rd, approx. 8:20 PM, 3rd Ave & E. 125 St., a male Asian, 61, was struck from behind causing him to fall to the ground; he was then kicked multiple times in the head and is in Critical Condition," the official Twitter account for the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force said on Saturday.

The perpetrator throws the victim, Yao Pan Ma, to the ground and then repeatedly kicks the Asian man in the head.

(Content Warning: Highly disturbing video):

If you have any info regarding Friday night’s horrific attack, at E. 125 and 3rd Ave, you are urged to call or DM… https://t.co/RoVdACdbu1
— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPD Hate Crimes)1619266693.0

Emergency medical personnel rushed the victim to a local hospital, where he is listed as in critical, but stable, condition.

The victim's wife told the New York Post that her husband was collecting cans to help the family make ends meet when he was savagely attacked from behind.

"Please capture him as soon as possible and make him pay," Baozhen Chen, Ma's wife of 31 years, told the New York Post "through a translator, sobbing throughout the exclusive interview from the doorway of her modest East Harlem apartment."

"I was scared. I was crying. I didn't know what to do," Chen, 57, said. "Why? Why did they do this to my husband? Why did this happen? It was sudden. I didn't expect this."

WABC-TV described the suspect as "an adult male, dark complexion; he was last seen wearing a black jacket, black pants, white sneakers and a multi-colored baseball cap."

As of Saturday, no arrests in the attack have been made.

Authorities have yet to determine if the attack was racially motivated, but detectives of the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force are investigating.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, "This is outrageous. Make no mistake, we will find the perpetrator and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If you have any information on this vicious act of hate please contact @NYPDHateCrimes IMMEDIATELY."

The couple's niece said she is "scared and paranoid."

"I don't feel safe. I'm afraid to walk on the streets when it's dark. I go home before it gets dark," she told the Post. "There are so many of these incidents happening. Now it's close to home … It is so wrong that this happens and it's not just one time. He didn't do anything to deserve this."

Earlier this month, NYPD arrested a man suspected of carrying out three separate attacks on Asian Americans in Brooklyn. Joseph Russo was charged with hate crimes.

Last month, a 65-year-old Asian woman was mercilessly attacked in New York City while security guards watched the onslaught.

The Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center, which tracks incidents of discrimination, hate, and xenophobia against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, reported 3,975 racially motivated incidents against Asian-Americans between March 19 last year and Feb. 28, 2021. Over 25% of the incidents of discrimination occurred on public streets and sidewalks. New York was the state with the second-most hate incidents (13%), following California (44%).

RELATED: 70-Year-Old Mexican-American Grandmother Brutally Beaten On Bus By Attacker Who Thought She Was Asian

'I'm gonna kill somebody!': Suspect caught on video physically attacking Asian man in broad daylight on NYC street



Yet another physical attack against an Asian person took place Monday on the streets of New York City — and some of the broad-daylight violence was caught on video, WABC-TV reported.

What are the details?

Police said the victim, a 44-year-old man, was walking near Lexington Avenue and East 72nd Street around 3:20 p.m. when the suspect — who had been yelling at other pedestrians — yelled, "Don't look at me!" and punched the man in the back of the head, the New York Post reported.

A surveillance video that WABC obtained shows the suspect following the victim — even after he walked into the street and reversed directions to avoid the attacker — and slamming him into a storefront, authorities told the paper. The suspect's punch does not appear in the video, the Post said.

After the attacker slammed the victim into the storefront, surveillance video shows the suspect continuing to chase the victim down a sidewalk.

A second video that came from a cellphone shows the suspect on a street corner hollering and raising his arms as bystanders gather and try to prevent further attacks against the Asian man.

"I'm gonna kill somebody!" the suspect was heard yelling on the clip. "Get out of my face!"

A woman was seen on video trying to comfort the victim and asking him if he wanted her to call police.

A different woman told WABC that the suspect went after her as well and yelled about Chinese, Spanish, and white people — and asked if she wanted him to kill her.

The incident is not being treated as a hate crime, police told the Post, but authorities are asking for help in catching the suspect who's still at large as of Tuesday morning.

Anything else?

Anti-Asian violence recently has spiked in New York City, WABC said, adding that there have been 54 verified cases so far in 2021 compared to 12 during 2020:

VIDEO: Assailant attacks 65-year-old Asian woman in broad daylight in NYC as security guards stand by and do nothing



A man brutally attacked a 65-year-old Asian woman in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, stomping her several times and reportedly yelling racial remarks, the New York City Police Department said. It's the latest in a string of anti-Asian hate crimes occurring across the country in recent weeks.

What are the details?

The attack occurred at approximately 11:40 a.m. right outside an apartment building at 360 W. 43rd St., according to WABC-TV reporter CeFaan Kim, who first reported the news.

Surveillance footage from inside the apartment building released to the media showed the assailant brutally attacking the elderly Asian woman without provocation. The woman was reportedly on her way to church when the assault occurred.

As he kicked her to the ground and proceeded to repeatedly stomp the defenseless woman's head against the pavement, the assailant is said to have yelled, "F*** you, you don't belong here," according to witnesses.

NYPD says 65-year-old Asian American woman was walking to church this morning when suspect assaulted her and said “… https://t.co/QEEc7OCPc9
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaan Kim)1617065525.0

According to WABC-TV, the woman was taken to a nearby hospital with "swelling to the face and pain in the left leg." She is said to be in stable condition.

A hate crime investigation has reportedly been launched into the incident, and the NYPD is asking the public for help identifying the assailant.

He closed door on helpless victim. She was punched and kicked causing her to fall. He then kicked her multiple time… https://t.co/BCofP6mf5Y
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaan Kim)1617065558.0

What else?

As the vicious attack unfolded, multiple staff inside the apartment building appeared to stand idly by, failing to come to the woman's aid. One of the individuals — reportedly a security guard — slowly closed the door on her as the attacker walked away.

In a since-deleted tweet, the NYPD's Asian Hate Crimes unit wrote, "The cold hearted building security guard not only failed to render aid, he closed the door on the victim," according to WABC-TV.

In a statement following the incident, the Brodsky Organization, the company that owns the apartment building, announced it had suspended the staff members who witnessed the attack.

"The Brodsky Organization condemns all forms of discrimination, racism, xenophobia and violence against the Asian American community," the company stated. "The staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union."

Anything else?

The incident immediately sparked outcry on social media, and even before police released video, elected officials had convened in Queens to condemn the attack.

"Asian Americans for too long in this country have been shamefully scapegoated because of ignorant fear," New York Rep. Grace Meng said. "That is the history of this country."

A wave of violence against Asian Americans has been reported across the country over the last several weeks, including the heinous murder of eight people who worked at three different day spas in the Atlanta area in mid-March. Six of the eight victims in the shooting spree were of Asian descent.