NYPD seeks suspect in assault of elderly Asian American woman

Police in New York City are seeking to identify a man who was seen in a now-viral video punching and kicking a 65-year-old Asian woman.

The video shows the woman being approached by a man outside of a building in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and kicked to the ground.

He then kicked her several more times and “made anti-Asian statements,” the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed on Twitter. 

WANTED in connection to an assault. On Monday, March 29th at 11:40 AM, at 360 West 43rd St, a female, 65, was approached by an unidentified male who punched and kicked her about the body and made anti-Asian statements. Have Info? Call or DM☎️1-800-577-TIPS. Up to $2500 reward. pic.twitter.com/6gb5NDCZCA

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) March 30, 2021

The department also shared photos of the alleged attacker and sought information from the public. 

WANTED in connection to an assault. On Monday, March 29th at 11:40 AM, at 360 West 43rd St, a female, 65, was approached by an unidentified male who punched and kicked her about the body and made anti-Asian statements. Have Info? Call or DM☎️1-800-577-TIPS. Up to $2500 reward. pic.twitter.com/5Haz2ZHkdz

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) March 30, 2021

Several people in the video can be seen not intervening in the violence, with one man appearing to close a door next to the woman after she was kicked to the ground. 

In a since-deleted tweet, the NYPD’s Asian Hate Crimes Task Force called the incident a “heinous attack” and said a “cold hearted building security guard not only failed to render aid, he closed the door on the victim,” WABC in New York reported.

The woman was on her way to church, according to the outlet. She was taken to the hospital after the attack with swelling in her face and pain in her left leg. She was in stable condition on Monday. 

The man allegedly also told the woman that “You don’t belong here” and “f— you.”

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told TV station NY1 that the attack was “disgusting.” 

“I don’t know who attacks a 65-year-old woman and leaves her on the street like that,” Shea said.

The Brodsky Organization, the property developer and manager of the building where the attack took place, confirmed in a statement on Instagram that the staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended while they investigate.

The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the attack, according to according to multiple reports.

The attack on the 65-year-old woman came the same day that the task force sought information about another video that showed a man relentlessly punching an Asian man on a subway car, apparently choking him until he became unconscious.

The U.S. has seen an uptick in violence against Asian Americans, with a recent study from California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism showing that crimes against Asian Americans in 16 of the country’s largest cities spiked nearly 150 percent in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this month, a gunman in the Atlanta area went on a shooting spree at spas that left eight people dead, including six Asian women.