Asian American woman, 65, knocked to ground and kicked as bystanders appear to look on

Victim immigrated to US from Philippines decades ago

A 65-year-old Filipino woman was violently attacked by a man near Times Square in New York on Monday, knocked to the ground as at least three bystanders appeared to watch on without intervening.

The brutal incident was captured on a security camera on Monday morning in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of Manhattan, the police said, releasing the video in an appeal for help identifying the assailant.

The Asian American woman was headed to church when a man knocked her down and started furiously kicking her, the New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force said.

The man continued to kick her head as she lay on the ground while hurling anti-Asian abuse at her, police said. He walked away after leaving the injured woman on the pavement.

A few passing cars and at least three staff at a tower block owned by the Brodsky Organization appeared to witness the violent scenes without making any move to help the woman. The members of staff have since been suspended, as the Brodsky Organization condemned “violence, racism, xenophobia”.

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The victim has been identified as Vilma Kari, according to the New York Times. Ms Kari has been living in the US for decades, her daughter said, adding that they were too overwhelmed to talk in detail about the incident.

The video has gone viral on social media, sparking outrage and calls to stop #StopAsianHate as people and officials expressed disgust over the sheer brutality of the incident. The seeming indifference of the bystanders and passing cars also added to the outrage.

The victim was taken to the hospital where doctors found she had a fractured pelvis and contusions to the head, according to WABC TV.

“The victim sustained a serious physical injury and was removed by EMS to NYU Langone Hospital,” and is stable, the police said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned the attack as “absolutely disgusting and outrageous” and said bystanders not intervening to stop the violence was “absolutely unacceptable”.

“I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you’ve got to help your fellow New Yorker,” he said. “Make noise. Call out what’s happening. Go and try and help. Immediately call for help. Call 911. This is something where we all have to be part of the solution. We can’t just stand back and watch a heinous act happening.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo said the attack was “horrifying and repugnant” and ordered the state police hate crimes task force to assist NYPD in the investigation.

Merrick B Garland from the Justice Department on Tuesday said that prosecutions of hate crime would be prioritised and additional assistance would be given to local law enforcement agencies on such crimes.

Anti-Asian hate crimes have escalated in New York with 33 reports of such incidents, surpassing 28 reported last year, according to NYPD data.

More than 3,795 incidents of hate crime were reported to Stop AAPI Hate, an NGO that tracks incidents of discrimination, hate and xenophobia against Asians. It said these are “only a fraction of the number of hate incidents” that actually happen in the country.