20s Man Charged with Hate Crime for Assaulting 7 Asian Women in New York

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] A man in his 20s, an American, was arrested by the police for randomly assaulting as many as seven Asian women in the heart of Manhattan, New York.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 3rd (local time) that the New York Police Department (NYPD) charged Steven Jaions (28), a resident of Manhattan, with assault and hate crimes.

Jaions committed assaults against Asian women in several areas of southern Manhattan for about two hours from 6:30 p.m. to 8:37 p.m. last Sunday, the 27th of last month. All seven victims were strangers to him, and it was confirmed that two of them received treatment at local hospitals.

At around 6:30 p.m., he approached a 57-year-old Asian woman near 30th Street in Manhattan’s Koreatown and punched her in the face without saying a word. Ten minutes later, he attacked a 25-year-old woman one block away.

At around 7 p.m., he struck a 19-year-old woman in the face with his elbow at Union Square in Manhattan. Twenty minutes later, near Mott Street, he pushed another woman’s mouth with his elbow. The last victim was a 20-year-old woman who was pushed to the ground by Jaions near New York University (NYU) at around 8:40 p.m.

The police stated, “He was not previously acquainted with the victims, and there was no conversation before the attacks.” The man’s image was captured on surveillance cameras in several locations. After receiving the report, the NYPD judged it to be a hate crime and the hate crime unit proceeded to arrest the suspect.

Jaions was arrested outside a public library located in Midtown on the night of the 2nd. Jaions, originally from Florida, refused to make a statement after his arrest.

Recently, hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have surged in New York. Yao Pan Ma, a Chinese immigrant, was beaten to death in East Harlem in April last year, and Michelle Go died earlier this year after being pushed by a mentally ill homeless person at the Times Square subway station. Christina Yuna Lee, of Korean descent, was stabbed to death last month by a homeless person who followed her into a Chinatown apartment.

A Korean diplomat in his 50s was randomly assaulted in the heart of Manhattan. The NYPD confirmed that the attack on the Korean diplomat is currently being investigated as a hate crime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.