'Love is the most powerful thing': Woman in New York anti-Asian attack says she prayed for attacker

NEW YORK: A Filipina American woman whose beating outside a Manhattan building spurred outrage over violence aimed at Asian Americans said in an interview that she prayed for the man who attacked her.

Speaking to ABC News' Nightline, Vilma Kari said: “We pray for those who persecute us or those who have harmed us, and show them love. You know, that’s the only thing, because love is the most powerful thing in the world.”

Kari, 65, was walking on her way to church on Mar 29 when an assailant kicked her in the stomach, knocked her to the ground and stomped on her, while onlookers watched from inside the building.

A 38-year-old man was charged with assault and attempted assault as hate crimes in connection to the attack. It drew national attention at a time when anti-Asian hate crimes had spiked.

The attack took place less than two weeks after a mass shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said at the time that there had been 33 hate crimes with an Asian victim up to that point of this year, news outlets reported.

The property developer and manager of the building, Brodsky Organization, wrote on Instagram after the assault that it was aware of the incident and said that staff members who witnessed it were suspended pending an investigation.

In the aftermath of the attack, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called it “disgusting".

“I don’t know who attacks a 65-year-old woman and leaves her on the street like that," Shea said on TV station NY1.

Shea had earlier said that the agency would increase its outreach and patrols in predominantly Asian communities.

Kari said that the attacker told her she didn't belong here. Since the attack, she and her daughter have spoken out in efforts to raise awareness about bias against Asian Americans.

“I say I belong and I want to insist I belong,” she said. “I have contributed to the success of this country in my own way, no matter how small is that, you know. So I think that. I just belong.”

According to a report from Stop AAPI Hate, more than 3,795 incidents were reported to the organisation from Mar 19, 2020, to Feb 28, 2021. The organisation said that number is “only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur”.

READ: Video shows elderly Asian-American woman assaulted on New York street

READ: US Congress passes Bill to fight rise in anti-Asian crimes

ANTI-HATE BILL

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed legislation to curtail the dramatic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and expressed pride that lawmakers who seem to agree on little else came together against hate and racism.

Biden lavished praise on Democrats and Republicans for approving the Bill by lopsided margins and sending it to the White House for his signature. Several dozen lawmakers attended the Bill signing ceremony, one of the largest groups to visit the Biden White House during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The House approved the Bill 364-62 this week, following the Senate's 94-1 vote in April.

Biden, who stressed his wish to help unite the country as he campaigned for office, said during the East Room event that fighting hate and racism should bring people together.

“I'm proud today of the United States,” he said.

The new law will expedite Justice Department reviews of hate crimes by putting an official in charge of the effort. Federal grants will be available to help local law enforcement agencies improve their investigation, identification and reporting of bias-driven incidents, which often go underreported.