- A 28-year-old man has been indicted on 13 counts in connection to a two-hour hate crime spree.
- The man is accused of targeting and physically assaulting seven Asian women in NYC.
- The incident illustrates a crisis of rising violence against Asian women.
A 28-year-old man has been indicted on 13 counts after attacking several Asian women in one night, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Monday.
The attacks highlighted an ongoing crisis in which violence against Asian women has skyrocketed across the country — especially in New York City.
Stephen Zajonc was arrested in connection to a two-hour assault spree targeting women of Asian descent in New York City on March 2.
Zajonc, whosehome address is registered at a drop-in shelter, is accused of physically assaulting — by means of punching, shoving, or elbowing — seven women between 6:30 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on February 27, the New York Police Department previously told Insider, citing video evidence.
“These attacks on seven New York women, each fueled by anti-Asian hate, are yet another sobering reminder of the demonstrable fears AAPI communities, particularly AAPI women, in our City continue to face,” Bragg said in a statement.
Zajonc is now charged with six felony counts of assault in the third degree as a hate crime and seven counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
Bragg said Zajonc “selectively ambushed seven Asian women in separate assaults, some of which he struck from behind – for no other reason than their perceived race.”
There are 27 open cases in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office investigating anti-Asian hate crimes, according to Bragg.