Man, 68, in critical condition after unprovoked punch on Manhattan subway was latest victim of anti-Asian hate: witness

This is awful, and just another showing at how screwed up this world is… While a 68-year-old man got sucker punched in the face by a stranger on a Tribeca subway train, leaving him in critical condition, was the latest victim of anti-Asian hate, a good Samaritan who helped the victim told the Daily News. Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden are blaming Trump, and White Supremacists for “violence” against Asians? But the guy who punched this man is a black guy and not a Trump supporter from the looks of it I think he’s probably a Biden/Harris fan. I doubt this guy is a Trump supporter…

“You motherf—ing Asian,” the snazzily-dressed man yelled, according to witness George Okrepkie. Without warning, the 6-foot-2 attacker walloped the victim in the face leaving him covered in blood that dripped down his jacket. The attacker threw what appeared to be a balled up newspaper before punching the victim, Okrepkie said. “I was in a state of shock,” said Okrepkie, 55, the CEO of AX Trading, who happened to be sitting across from the victim in the nearly empty subway car. “It’s an incredibly disgusting attack on an Asian American.”

“I tried to go after the assailant but he took off,” Okrepkie said. “I went back to the elderly gentleman, took off my scarf and wrapped it around him, waiting for the EMT and NYPD to show up.”

Medics rushed the victim to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan, where he was in critical but stable condition, police said. Family members told NBC New York he is Sri Lanken. Police have not yet designated the attack a hate crime.

“I took photos of the incident to show that crimes keep happening in NYC subways week after week,” Okrepkie said. “I just had lunch with a friend of mine, who is Asian American, and it’s brutal to see the rise in crimes against Asian Americans.”

The assailant fled the train but not before surveillance cameras captured him walking through the station looking at his cellphone. Cops released images of the suspect Sunday and asked the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down. He is believed to be about 30. Okrepkie says he will be back on the train Monday. “If I saw this happen again, I would do the right thing and help again,” he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. The attack comes as violence has picked up in the subway, despite a roughly 75% drop in ridership since the pandemic. All while crimes and attacks against Asian-Americans have increased as well.

Noel Quintana, a Filipino American, was slashed across the face in an unprovoked attack on an L train while on his way to work on Feb. 3rd. Quintana, who has stitch marks from one side of his face to the other, has since spoken up and petitioned against the disturbing trend of Asian American hate crimes in NYC.

On Friday, a man slashed a victim in the face on a Bronx train after getting in an argument. The assailant pulled out a box cutter as the train pulled into the Cypress Ave. station around 9:30 p.m. and sliced him above the lip, cops said.

Earlier Friday, a 37-year-old man was stabbed in the arm and the leg in an unprovoked attack onboard a Brooklyn No. 4 train rumbling into the Nevins St. station around 12:10 a.m., cops said.[More New York] NYPD officer, facing criminal charges for Queens chokehold, busted off-duty for firing his gun into ocean: cops »

500 additional police officers were deployed in February into the transit system to deal with the alarming amount of attacks. Asian American leaders said the 2020 White House was one of the primary propellers of a rising number of anti-Asian incidents during the pandemic. As former President Donald Trump used terms like “kung flu” and “China virus,” attacks, shunning and hate toward Asian Americans soared.

But in 2021, there’s an Asian American woman at the helm. Her job right now is critical, AAPI activists said. Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden gave statements to the press Wednesday condemning the Atlanta killings and extending thoughts to the victims’ families. They are both scheduled to travel to Georgia on Friday in their first scheduled joint trip since taking office. Officials said the two will talk to Asian American community leaders, but the details of the trip, including whether or not they will meet the families of the shooting victims, remain unclear.

“Our prayers are extended to the families of those who have been killed,” Harris said. “To our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged. … None of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate.”