(CNN) — A man who allegedly assaulted seven Asian women over about a three hour period in New York City in late February has been indicted on multiple hate crime charges, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced Monday. Steven Zajonc, 28, is charged with six felony counts of third-degree assault as a hate crime and seven counts of second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor hate crime. On February 27, Zajonc allegedly began a series of unprovoked attacks on the women on the east side of Manhattan, according to the district attorney’s office. Hate crimes against Asians increased so much during the Covid-19 pandemic that the New York Police Department created an Asian Hate Crime Task Force. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office says it has 27 open cases related to anti-Asian crimes.

Source: CNN April 05, 2022 00:35 UTC