Authorities said Thursday that a video of a man spraying air freshener at an Asian man on a New York subway is being investigated by police as a coronavirus-related hate crime, the New York Post reports.
A short clip of the incident posted to Facebook now has over 1.5 million views. In the video, the man yells at the victim to move away. Off camera, a woman asks why.
“Because he’s standing right f–king next to me,” the man responds. “Tell him to move. Tell him to move.”
Later in the video, he sprays a bottle of what the New York Post identified as Febreze air freshener in the Asian subway rider’s direction.
At a crime briefing on Thursday, chief of detectives Rodney Harrison said the train left the station before police responding to a 911 call arrived.
“We were unable to take a report,” Harrison said. “We are investigating it right now. Our Hate Crimes Task Force is reviewing the incident and it’s an ongoing investigation.”
According to the New York Post, as of Thursday afternoon, none of the 22 people infected with coronavirus in the state of New York are reported to be Asian.
In an interview with CBS New York, executive director of the Asian American Federation Jo-Ann Yoo cautioned against turning on Asians in light of the global outbreak.
“A lot of the Asian American community, we are New Yorkers,” Yoo said. “These attacks, these racist comments do not help the situation.”
Actress Celia Au shared a clip of the incident on her social media, instructing people to stop discriminating “because the virus definitely doesn’t.” The MTA later retweeted her video and offered comment on the situation with of a numbered list.
“What works in stopping the spread of Coronavirus: 1. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. 2. Cough and sneeze into your elbow. 3. Stay home if you’re sick,” the tweet said. “What doesn’t work: 1. Racism.”
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