Brooklyn Man Charged With Hate Crimes In 2 Separate Brutal Asian Attacks

A Brooklyn man has been apprehended by police after he attacked two Asian people in two different incidents.

Authorities filed two counts of hate crime charges Wednesday against 28-year-old Joseph Russo for two separate events that occurred on the mornings of March 22 and April 5.

The New York Daily News reports that the first known unprovoked attack on an Asian that Russo did was against a 32-year-old Asian woman at around 7:45 a.m. Russo pulled on the hair of the woman who was walking down Homecrest’s Kings Highway near East 13th Street in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) released footage that shows Russo forcefully dragging the Asian woman by her hair for a few seconds before letting go of her. When he let the woman go, he hit a nearby wall two times with his hand before leaving the area.

According to police, the woman had pain in her neck and head due to the attack. But according to the New York Post, she declined to get it checked at a hospital.

In the latest known attack that Russo was responsible for, he allegedly shoved a 77-year-old Asian man who was perusing a supermarket in Sheepshead Bay outdoor vegetable stand. The incident took place near East 14th Street at about 11 a.m.

Police showed surveillance footage that showed Russo grabbing a flower bouquet from a nearby store’s outdoor display before throwing it away. After he threw it, he saw the elderly Asian man. Russo approached the victim and pushed him to the ground.

The elderly Asian man suffered bruises to his arm. However, he refused to seek medical attention, according to the New York Post.

Authorities said Russo faces charges of harassment and assault, both as a hate crime for his attacks.

A similar incident occurred involving an attack on an Asian person on March 30, where a man knocked an Asian man out cold while they were both on a Brooklyn subway train. The Asian man managed to defend himself from the many punches the attacker was raining down on him. The attacker held the Asian man in a chokehold until the man lost consciousness.