While the NYPD said that they did not have evidence of a racially motivated attack, a witness reported that the attacker shouted “‘You Asian motherf***er!” And then punched Bodhi in the face.
A Sri Lankan man was assaulted by a black man yelling anti-Asian insults on a New York City subway. This as demonstrations decrying the white supremacy of anti-Asian violence erupted in cities across the US over the weekend.
Marc Mathieu, 36, was arrested and charged with assault, according to the local news. It was on Friday afternoon that he is alleged to have attacked 68-year-old Narayange Bodhi who was commuting to work.
While the NYPD said that they did not have evidence of a racially motivated attack, a witness reported that the attacker shouted "'You Asian motherf***er!" And then punched Bodhi in the face.
That witness, George Okrepkie, said that he "could not believe that somebody would attack a man of that age. Before I could even look he was standing on top of him." He said he helped Bodhi until officers arrived.
The NYPD has not called this a hate crime.
Okerpkie said that the tried to detain Bodhi's assailant himself, but that the man departed the subway in lower Manhattan, at Franklin Street. This was on the 1 train which runs up the west side.
The NYPD has investigated at least 10 cases of anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021, and the Daily Mail reports that NYPD reported an uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes of 1,300 percent during the past year.
This comes as an investigation into a mass shooting is underway in Atlanta where eight women were killed at spas that are largely believed to be hubs of prostitution. The man who undertook these killings has blamed his sex addiction, according to police, while media has largely blamed white supremacy.
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