A Brooklyn man has been arrested for allegedly committing multiple anti-Asian attacks in the borough.
WLNY reports that 28-year-old Joseph Russo has been hit with various hate crime charges, including assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment as a hate crime.
The latest assault happened on Monday at 11:15 a.m. in Sheepshead Bay, where Russo is said to have pushed a 77-year-old Asian man to the ground, while he was looking at vegetables at a supermarket. According to police, the victim endured bruising on his arms, and no words were exchanged between Russo and the victim.
Before that, Russo allegedly attacked a 32-year-old Asian woman in Midwood before 8 a.m. on March 22,. Again, the suspect and victim didn’t exchange any words, and the victim declined medical attention. On March 5, around 9:30 a.m., Russo also allegedly pushed a 64-year-old Asian woman to the ground in Gravesend.
Police say Russo is a resident of Brooklyn and has 14 prior arrests going back to 2009 for criminal mischief, public lewdness, drug possession, assault, criminal trespass, and burglary.
There has been an alarming surge in the number of attacks against Asian Americans.The NYPD says, as of March 28, there have been 33 anti-Asian hate crime victims, in comparison to 11 last year from the same time period.
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