Another violent attack occurred against an Asian person in New York City last weekend. A man was sucker-punched in broad daylight while spending time with his wife and 5-year-old son in Central Park.
The 38-year-old victim was in the park near the lake by Hernshead Rocks on the Upper West Side around 1 p.m. when a man approached him. The suspect began whispering sexual comments to the man’s wife, making her uncomfortable.
“You can tell that something just wasn’t right. He was sorta pacing back and forth through this area, and he was just kind of muttering to himself,” the victim said. “He started coming closer to my wife and my 5-year-old son, and I could tell he was whispering something into her ear.”
The family repeatedly tried to move away from the individual, but each time they moved, he followed them. “Hey, let’s practice social distance; you don’t have a mask on; it’s a pretty big park,” the victim asked of the stranger. That’s when the individual punched him in the face and then fled, according to ABC7.
The victim was brought to Mount Sinai Hospital. His cheekbone was fractured in two places.
When asked by the network if he felt the crime was related to his family’s race, he said he wasn’t sure.
“It’s hard to tell if this was motivated by race; however, we believe that we were targeted, and whether it’s through the fetishes of Asian women in general and sort of the stereotypes they carry, we believe that it’s worth it for us to speak up,” he said.
A witness was able to snap a photo of the suspect, but so far, no one has been arrested in connection with the incident.
