A Manhattan 7-Eleven worker became the city’s latest suspected victim of an anti-Asian crime — with his attacker spewing, “You Chinese motherf—er!” as he punched him, police said Sunday.
The 26-year-old Asian victim was working at the Manhattan convenience store shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday when his attacker stormed in without a mask and yelled the racial slur and slugged him, cops said.
Cops said the victim, who suffered a cut under his left eye, had previously confronted the suspect after he allegedly tried to steal merchandise.
Police said initially the assault was not being classified as a hate crime because the attack was over “a previous larceny and dispute.”
But the department said later Sunday that it was being investigated as a bias crime.
Anti-Asian violence has plagued NYC since the pandemic began. Corbis via Getty ImagesThere have been no arrests.
The city has been plagued by a series of anti-Asian attacks in recent weeks, forcing the NYPD to redeploy some cops to cut down on the crimes.
