Actress Oliva Munn is speaking out to Inside Edition after a recent attack in Queens hit close to home.
There’s been a massive uptick in attacks against Asian Americans since the coronavirus pandemic began. In New York City, such crimes are up 1900%.
Actress Oliva Munn is speaking out to Inside Edition after a recent attack in Queens hit close to home.
“It just broke my heart,” Munn said of the gut-wrenching video showing an assault on a woman. “She’s launched through the air, horizontally, just launched through the air. And this guy just walks off thinking he can get away with it.”
It hit home for Munn because her mother is of Chinese descent, and she’s also friends with the victim’s son. Cops say during a verbal dispute, the assailant threw a box at the woman and then pushed her to the ground.
Munn was so upset, she went on Instagram and appealed to the public for help.
“My friend’s mom is a 5’3” 50+ Chinese woman and she was attacked by this guy,” she wrote. “She left the hospital with 10 stitches in her head. We’re gonna find this guy. Queens, internet, please...do your [stuff].”
Sure enough, cops say tips led them to a suspect.
“Thankfully, social media just stepped up," Munn said. "They did their thing. It was like a day later, they got him. And I just started crying just out of gratitude.”
Sam Cheng says the video of his mom being attacked will stay with him forever.
“She hit her head onto one of the metal box stands that was on the side. She's got a relatively gnarly gash in the middle of her forehead,” Cheng told Inside Edition.
There’s been a rise in violence against Asian Americans, who fear they are being scapegoated, because the virus was first identified in China.
A 91-year-old man was shoved to the ground in Oakland, California. In San Francisco, an 84-year-old man lost his life after he was brutally shoved.
"Our people are living in fear of walking outside their door right now,” Munn said.
The man arrested in connection with the attack in New York was charged with harassment and assault, but not with a hate crime.
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