Man arrested on hate crime charges after allegedly punching 55-year-old Asian woman

A New York man was arrested Monday and is facing hate crime charges after allegedly punching a 55-year-old Asian woman.

Video from the incident shows a man passing by the woman outside of a restaurant in Chinatown before punching her in the face. The woman is seen falling to the ground, and several bystanders rush to help her.

This was just sent to me from my constituent. This just happened in my district in Chinatown. He has been arrested and our precinct is investigating. pic.twitter.com/sxNfCbrlza

— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 31, 2021

The New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed to The Hill that police officers arrested Alexander Wright, 48, on Monday in connection with the case. He was charged with assault as a hate crime and criminal possession of a controlled substance, in addition to other charges.

The victim was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. Her identity was not immediately confirmed by authorities.

Wright was also taken to a hospital on Monday for evaluation before being discharged, according to the NYPD.

His charges have not yet been filed by a district attorney, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The violent incident comes amid a spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans across the country. Data released earlier this year from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino found that such hate crimes rose by 169 percent in 15 major U.S. cities when comparing the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021. 

The largest increase was found in New York, where hate crimes jumped by 223 percent.

President Biden last month signed into law legislation that aims to combat the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The law is designed to improve hate crime tracking and reporting, bolster support for state and local officials investigating hate crimes and more.