Face Mask Triggers Coronavirus Hate Crime Attack, Witnesses Say

NEW YORK CITY — Disturbing video of a man attacking a masked woman in a Chinatown subway station may show a hate crime spurred by fears over the novel coronavirus.

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force shared video Tuesday night of a woman running through the Grand Street station and toward a man who begins beating her with an umbrella.

"Don't f---ing touch me," the man can be heard screaming in the video.

Two witnesses, who shared their stories on social media, said the man in woman came to blows after he called her a "diseased b----."

"[He] sees that she's wearing a mask and starts calling her a diseased b----," Jay Jay Eternity wrote on Facebook on Feb. 3. "He gets up in her face when she doesn't respond and tries to intimidate her."

Twitter user @x_ginko wrote on Feb. 2 on social media, "I clearly heard the words 'diseased b----.' I also heard her asking him to go away."

Before the video began, the man hit the woman on the head, spurring her to grab a glass bottle and chase him, @x_ginko wrote.

"This is then the guy started attacking her," @x_ginko wrote. "So ultimately, both parties had a fault, but the situation escalated with racial tension."

At this point, Facebook user Jay Jay Eternity said he tried to help the masked woman.

"No one stepped in as she was getting beaten with an umbrella until I pulled him off," the Facebook user wrote.

"I truly believe that wearing a mask in NYC right now marks you as a target," he added. "So please be careful, and stand up for your friends."

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force hopes the woman will seek help from police, they said.

“The NYPD and the Hate Crime Task Force encourage the victim to report this incident to the police for a full investigation,” they wrote in a tweet.

The MTA shared the video with police upon viewing the video Monday and issued a statement in response Wednesday.

“The MTA has no tolerance for bias or hate-based attacks," a spokesperson said. "We recently launched an anti-hate campaign to encourage victims and witnesses to report these crimes, and to encourage tolerance that should minimize such unacceptable conduct in the first place.”