Fil-Am latest victim of hate crime

A Filipino-American was repeatedly punched in the face at a subway station in Manhattan, prompting the Philippine consulate general in New York to condemn the latest Asian hate crime Wednesday evening.

“We strongly condemn this latest anti-Asian hate crime that targeted a member of the Filipino Community in New York City. We again call on authorities to take the necessary steps to protect members of the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Community,” Philippine Consul General in New York Elmer Cato said in a statement.

ABC 7 New York reported that the 52-year old Fil-Am first witnessed another man being assaulted when he got off the train at the 103rd Street station on the Upper East Side.

The assailant was attacking the man while yelling “go back to where you came from.” The first victim managed to escape, and then the suspect turned to the Fil-Am, striking and shouting the same anti-Asian slurs at him.

The Fil-Am victim said the attack “seemed so random and so sudden.”

“I kinda realized it’s potentially a hate crime because of what I recall the man was shouting or saying,” the victim said.

In March, a 65-year-old Filipino-American woman was punched and kicked by a man in broad daylight in New York City.

The attacker yelled, “You don’t belong here,” then kicked the woman several times on the head and stomach.

Reports showed that no one came to the victim’s aid, and a doorman who witnessed the attack in front of a building where it happened closed the door on her.

In February, a 61-year-old Filipino-American was attacked in a subway – his face slashed from ear to ear – also in New York City.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington earlier sent a note verbale to the US State Department over the attacks and advised Filipinos in the United States to exercise “utmost caution” amid rising incidents of hate crimes against Asians.

Last month, US President Joe Biden signed a hate crimes law aimed at protecting Asian Americans who have suffered a surge in attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Racism, Biden said, is “an ugly poison that has long plagued our nation.”

“Too many Asian Americans have been waking up this past year genuinely fearing for their safety, just opening their door and walking down the street,” he said.

Stop AAPI Hate, an activist group, said there were 6,603 hate incidents – mostly verbal insults – in the year from March 2020, but many more were likely not reported to police.

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart: hate can be given no safe harbor in America,” Biden said. “Silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit.” with AFP