Who is Vincent Diehl? NY man hits Asian woman in face, says 'go back to your country'

Diehl, 47, was charged with assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment

UPDATED AUG 25, 2021

Vincent Diehl was charged with hate crime for randomly attacking an Asian woman in Manhattan over the weekend (Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information)

STUYVESANT TOWN, NEW YORK: New York Police Department arrested a man on Tuesday, August 24 and charged him with hate crime for randomly attacking an Asian woman in Manhattan over the weekend, the latest report revealed.

Vincent Diehl, 47, is accused of hitting the 52-year-old victim in the face and yelling “go back to your country” near the intersection of First Avenue and East 18th Street in Stuyvesant Town at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday, August 22, cops and sources said. The victim, who is an Asian by race, complained about the incident and the pain caused to her after the incident. She later refused medical attention at the scene, sources said. Diehl was charged with assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, police said.

Asian-American says he was racially harassed by White NY couple for scolding his children

Late last year, the US issued a report that detailed "an alarming level" of racially motivated violence and other hate incidents against Asian Americans. It is difficult to determine exact numbers for such crimes and instances of discrimination, as no organizations or governmental agencies have been tracking the issue long-term, and reporting standards can vary from region to region. The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate said it received more than 2,800 reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide last year. The group set up its online self-reporting tool at the start of the pandemic.

A study of 16 US cities by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino found a 164% increase in hate crimes reported to police from 36 cases to 95 in the first quarter of 2021 when compared with the same period in 2020. The cities with the most cases of hate crimes against Asian Americans are New York and Los Angeles.

The recent increase of violence against Asian Americans urged President Joe Biden to sign into law the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act. It calls for a point person at the Department of Justice to speed up the review of hate crimes. The legislation also provides grants for training and education against racism. "I don't think that there's anything new with the kind of racism that's been targeted at Asian Pacific Islanders," said Tyler Diep, a former California politician and Vietnamese immigrant. Diep said the difference is that the mainstream media and society in the US are now finally talking about it. "I think that with the improvement in technology and surveillance cameras, we're able to see a lot of graphic and tragic incident[s] lately happening in New York and in San Francisco, but it's not rampant," Diep said. "You get pockets of it [racist incidents] here and there. Some are widely covered. Some go on without anybody knowing."