Fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, attacks against Asians surged in 2020 in New York City, city officials said Tuesday.
An NYPD’s hate crime task force recorded 28 anti-Asian attacks last year — compared to two incidents in 2019, according to Deputy Inspector Stewart Loo.
“Obviously, we didn’t have the pandemic,” he said about the jump.
Police said arrests were made in 18 of those attacks.
The NYPD formed the task force last August by pulling 25 detectives from across the city.
So far in 2021, police have logged two anti-Asian assaults, Loo said.
The executive director for the Asian American Federation Jo-Ann Yoo said at Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daily press conference that the “Asian American community has been reeling from the second pandemic of racism.”
“These attacks are reminders of my community suffering since last January, to tell you the truth, we are scared outraged and devastated by hate incidents against Asian New Yorkers,” Yoo said.
The non-profit created its own reporting system online, which Yoo said has logged more than 500 incidents since early last year.
“We know that that’s an undercount, so I encourage people to come forward and report their stories,” Yoo said.
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