NEW YORK (AP) - New York City police have opened a hate crime investigation into the assault last week of a woman of Asian descent riding the subway in Manhattan.
The attack happened Dec. 17 aboard an A train at West 4th St.
A group of three men and three women began haranguing the 32-year-old over her failure to wear a face mask on public transportation. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority requires all subway riders to wear masks.
The encounter escalated, police said, and the group began making “anti-Asian statements relative to the coronavirus” and punched the woman in the face multiple times.
The woman received bruises and was in “substantial pain,” police said, but she refused medical attention.
No arrests have been made in the case.
In September, the U.S. House passed a resolution calling for public agencies to investigate possible hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent after a rise in aggression and violence from those who wrongly blame them for the pandemic.
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