A woman accused of unloading an anti-Asian rant at a New York City couple was identified as the daughter of the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.).
Maura Moynihan confirmed to ABC7 Eyewitness News on Thursday that she was the woman shown in the video arguing with Dan Lee, 31, while in a New York City cab.
Lee’s wife Maria Ha, 25, accused Moynihan of coming up to her unprovoked to say, “You’re not from here. You’re from China, aren’t you? Go back to China.”
Ha then retrieved Lee, who is shown in the video confronting Moynihan in a cab and calling on her to say “that racist” remark again about returning to “communist China.”
“Well, isn’t that where you’re from?” Moynihan responds.
The couple, who are Korean Americans, said they eventually decided to leave and cross the street when Moynihan allegedly yelled “Go back to … communist China.”
Moynihan told ABC7 Eyewitness News that the incident was a misunderstanding over a cab and denied making racist statements.
“It had nothing whatsoever to do with any bias or racism or anti-Asian American prejudice, as has been wrongly suggested,” she said.
“I have devoted most of my life to working with and for Asian people, most particularly in the cause of securing basic human rights for the Tibetan people in their continuing struggle against communist China,” Moynihan added.
The late senator’s daughter offered to meet with Ha and Lee again, but Ha said she doesn’t plan on it.
“What she said wasn’t an apology. We don’t accept their behavior at all, so I don’t wanna meet her,” Ha told ABC7 Eyewitness. “Why would I meet her?”
Police told the news outlet that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Over the past year, the U.S. has seen an increase in anti-Asian violence during the coronavirus pandemic. Stop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit, says it has received almost 3,800 cases of hate incidents against Asian Americans in the last year.
Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) attributed the rise in violence against Asian Americans to former President Trump’s usage of phrases like “Chinese virus” and “Kung flu” when discussing the pandemic.
This Tuesday, eight people were left dead after a gunman attacked several Atlanta-area massage parlors. Six of the victims were Asian women. Law enforcement have not assigned a motive, saying it is too early to call it a hate crime.