A few days ago, a Chinese woman in Oakland, USA, was robbed by a strange man in Chinatown, and a nearby shopkeeper shot to stop the robber. When police arrived, they arrested the shopkeeper and drew outside criticism, and Asian actress Olivia Munn helped draw public attention to the crime. The man suspected of assault has been arrested and the Asian-American community is celebrating.
The victim's daughter, Maggie Cheng, was relieved to see the suspect arrested. Maggie Cheng said, "It's like a perfect example of people coming together for the greater good." ”
After the incident was posted on social media by American actress Olivia Munn, a friend of the victim's son, the case attracted widespread attention on social media. Moon wrote on her Twitter, "She left the hospital with 10 stitches on her head. We'll find this guy. ”
Moon
Moon added, "It's incredible that social media, the NYPD, all the people mobilized for us and mobilized so fast." "It's a great feeling to know that our pain, our suffering, our mother is important."
According to court documents, the suspect was Patrick Mateo, 47, who told the officer who arrested him, "He knew why the police were there because someone had sent him a picture from social media." ”
Patrick Mateo was charged with a third-degree assault and second-degree harassment, but he declined to plead guilty. The attack was not investigated as a hate crime. Sam Cheng, the victim's son, said that was one of the reasons he stood up and spoke so people could understand the difference.
Sam Cheng continued, "It comes down to what they said. You need to prove it... I wonder how many other crimes can't legally be called hate crimes? I just wanted to spread that awareness there. ”
The incident took place in Queens, nearly 2 p.m. on Tuesday, where local agencies said the suspects began yelling at the 52-year-old victim and threw a box of spoons at her. Allegedly, he shouted "Don't get in my way" while swearing and pushed his victim to the ground. She fell, hit her head against a newsstand box, and was rushed to the hospital, where she stabilized.
The criminal complaint alleges that she was unconscious at the time, and Sam Cheng said his mother needed about 10 stitches to stitch up the wound under her forehead. "She's still shocked, she's glad she's alive, she's glad she's badly injured, but not to the point of disability," he said. ”
Witnesses said the suspect had been cursing the victim before being pushed. Witness Derrick Chan said, "The guy just looked at the coffee shop and said, 'I'm going to kill you.'" Then suddenly, he came out and threw a box of spoons at her. Then a rugby bag pushed her to the ground. ”
The Queens incident is just the latest in a series of violent crimes against Asian-Americans in recent weeks. Earlier in Oakland, California, in Chinatown, a 91-year-old was pushed to the ground and a 70-year-old woman was knocked to the ground and robbed by two men.
Actress Olivia Munn said, "Well, as an Asian-American, I've been well aware for years that my community is experiencing physical and verbal racist attacks, but especially in the last year, there has been a huge increase in these attacks." ”
The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate said it has received more than 2,800 reports of anti-Asian attacks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Olivia Moon
Olivia Moon, along with Gemma Chan and Awkwafina in the movie Crazy Rich Asians and Daniel Dae Kim, a star on the TV show "Hawaii Five-O," spoke out against violence.
Daniel King said, "These people are old people, usually have physical conditions, they did not dare to go out, and now they are worried about their lives." ”
Daniel King, who was involved in the attack, has been arraigned and released under supervision, and the date for the court's hearing of the case has not yet been determined.
It is worth mentioning that when the attack occurred, the local police arrived and arrested the people who stopped the attack, and the local police chief also called on everyone not to arm themselves and "just be a good witness."