Hate crime charges added in New York Chinatown stabbing case
- The incident comes amid an apparent surge in violent attacks against Asian-Americans in multiple parts of the country
- Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition of advocacy groups, has received more than 2,800 reports of racism targeting Asian-Americans from March to December 2020
New York prosecutors on Friday filed hate crime charges against the suspect in a stabbing in Manhattan’s Chinatown that left a man in critical condition. The incident is the latest in a string of violent attacks against Asian-Americans.
The 36-year-old victim, who authorities have not named, was stabbed in the back on Thursday evening. The suspect in the case, 23-year-old Salman Muflihi, was arrested and charged with attempted homicide and assault.
Hate crime charges were added to the case against Muflihi on Friday afternoon after “further investigation” into the attack, a New York city police spokesman said, declining to elaborate on what new information had prompted the development.
The formal charges against Muflihi now include attempted murder as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime, criminal possession of a weapon, and forgery, the spokesman said.
Stewart Loo, who heads the New York Police Department’s Asian hate crime task force, confirmed to the South China Morning Post that the victim was of “Chinese descent”. As of Friday afternoon, the victim remained in a Manhattan hospital in critical condition.