Four teenage girls in New York on Monday were charged with hate crimes for allegedly attacking a 51-year-old Asian woman on a bus for "causing" the coronavirus, reports CNN.
The incident happened on a bus in the Bronx on March 28 at around 3 p.m. ET.
All four teens attacked the Asian woman, calling her a bi*** and asking her why she was not wearing a mask. They fled after the attack. One of the suspects struck the woman's head with an umbrella, according to NYPD Lt. Thomas Antonetti.
The victim was taken a local hospital where she received stitches for a cut to her head.
Police are still searching for one of the teens.
The incident was among a swell of hate crimes against Asian-Americans across the country noted in an FBI report recently obtained by ABC News.
"The FBI assesses hate crime incidents against Asian Americans likely will surge across the United States, due to the spread of coronavirus disease . . . endangering Asian American communities," according to the report, which was compiled by the FBI's Houston office and distributed to local law enforcement agencies across the country. "The FBI makes this assessment based on the assumption that a portion of the U.S. public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations."
A 19-year-old Texas man April 1 was charged with a hate crime for stabbing three Asian American family members, including a 2-year-old and 6-year-old, over fears they were infecting people with the virus.