Man charged with hate crime after Asian woman was attacked in New York City’s Chinatown

A man has been arrested after an attack on an Asian woman outside a New York City restaurant on Memorial Day.

According to the New York City Police Department, 48-year-old Alexander Wright was charged with assault, assault as a hate crime and criminal possession of a controlled substance after the unprovoked attack was caught on camera.

The suspect approached a 55-year-old woman and punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, according to a released video on twitter by Rep. Yuh-Line Niou, whose district includes Chinatown. The woman was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said.

Niou told WCBS-TV that the attack was heartbreaking for her community given the growing number of attacks on Asian Americans in the city.

“I can’t understand why people can’t just see that we’re human too,” she said. “When people hurt us, it causes lasting trauma.”

“A historic upswing”: Hate incidents against Asian Americans are skyrocketing despite a public awareness campaign

The attack came days after an Asian police officer was attacked while responding to a call in San Francisco. Video of that incident shows the suspect initially complied with the officer’s request before turning around, punching her and pulling her to the ground.

Police Department spokesman Robert Rueca told the San Francisco Chronicle that “the investigation is examining aspects of this attack on the officer, including a possible hate crime and motive.”

Four bystanders intervened to stop the attack before additional officers arrived and arrested the suspect. Michael Waldorf, one of the men who rushed to the officer’s aid, told ABC News that the suspect was “squeezing her head and pulling her hair.”

“I saw it was an emergency and she was in trouble,” he said. “I ran over and immediately tried to free her from his grasp – hitting him in the head.”

Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the alleged attack highlights the need for more housing and mental health care.

According to jail records, Gerardo Contreras, 33, was booked into the city jail on multiple charges, including assault, battery on a peace officer and violating civil rights.

Violence against Asian Americans and Asian-Americans has increased despite increased national attention and policy action against anti-Asian hate, experts say.

There was a more than 164% year-over-year increase in anti-Asian hate crime reports to police in the first quarter of 2021 in 16 major cities and jurisdictions, according to a report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in California State University, San Bernardino.

More than 6,600 hate incidents were reported in the U.S. in the year after the pandemic began, Stop AAPI Hate announced last month.

Follow N’dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chinatown attack on Asian woman: Man faces hate crime charges in New York City