Ben185/iStockBy AARON KATERSKY and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A 23-year-old has been charged with second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime after allegedly stabbing a 36-year-old Asian man in the back in New York City’s Chinatown, police sources said.
Salman Muflihi, of Brooklyn, allegedly pulled an 8-inch knife on the victim at about 6:20 p.m. Thursday, according to police sources.
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition, sources said.
After the attack Muflihi ran to a security guard outside the nearby Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, allegedly telling the guard, “I just stabbed someone. Where are the police at?” sources said.
Muflih allegedly told detectives that he “didn’t like the way” the victim “looked at him,”
Muflihi was also charged with assault, forgery and criminal possession of a weapon, according to police sources.
Violence against Asians has been growing since the pandemic.
Between March and December last year, the organization Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate recorded nearly 3,000 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents nationwide.
The New York City Police Department reported a 1,900% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes last year.
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