Security guards failed to intervene while a man kicked and stomped on a 65-year-old woman near Times Square, yelling, “You don’t belong here.”
The security camera video was shocking in its brutality. A 65-year-old woman from the Philippines was walking down a street near Times Square when a man, in broad daylight, suddenly kicked her in the stomach. She crumpled to the sidewalk. He kicked her once in the head. Then again. And again. He yelled an obscenity at her, according to a police official, and then said, “You don’t belong here.” As the violent scene unfolded in Manhattan, three men watched from the lobby of a nearby luxury apartment building. When the woman struggled to stand up, one of the men, a security guard, closed the front door to the building. Even as reports of anti-Asian hate crimes have escalated in recent weeks, the video released by police officials on Monday evening touched a fresh nerve. The sheer brazenness of the attack — combined with the seeming indifference of the bystanders — caused another wave of fear for many Asian-Americans already worn down by a steady drumbeat of assaults. “This feels like an emergency happening in real time over weeks,” said Chris M. Kwok, a board member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York. “People are in a state of panic. Everybody is on edge.” As the video went viral online, the attack provoked a torrent of condemnations from public officials and seemed to underscore the difficulty the government faces in curbing unprovoked assaults against Asian-Americans. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Monday’s attack “absolutely disgusting and outrageous” and urged New Yorkers to intervene when they see assaults. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said it was “horrifying and repugnant” and ordered the state police to help investigate. Andrew Yang, who is seeking to become New York City’s first Asian-American mayor, said he was heartbroken by the frequency of the attacks and advised Asian-Americans to walk outside in pairs. Warning: Video shows a violent attack. In Washington, President Biden announced a slate of new initiatives on Tuesday to combat anti-Asian prejudice, including publishing more frequent data on hate crime incidents and taking steps to encourage people to report them. Video footage from other recent anti-Asian attacks has often shown bystanders frozen in place, appearing paralyzed by the violence they were witnessing. Some Asian-Americans said the attack this week in Manhattan sent a chilling message: Even if assaulted on a busy street in broad daylight, they may be left to fend for themselves. “When I look at the video, the inaction is what’s heartbreaking,” said Mon Yuck Yu, a health advocate for immigrants in New York. “If you are being attacked, the community will not be standing for you.” The victim of Monday’s attack in Manhattan was identified as Vilma Kari, according to a police official.
