‘Bruce Lee, shorty’: NYC Asian cop harassed with racist tropes in viral video
By Carl Samson
March 31, 2023
An Asian officer with the New York Police Department was filmed receiving a barrage of racist attacks in a viral video this week.
The incident reportedly occurred in Times Square while the unidentified cop was on duty.
In the video, a man behind the camera can be seen pointing a finger at the officer, whom he calls “Bruce Lee” and “shorty.”
“Get back, Bruce Lee-lookin [unintelligible] boy,” the man demands. “On King Day you’re acting like Bruce Lee, shorty.”
The man then accuses the officer of “playing” with him. “Stop playing me, shorty, before I do that to your ass,” he says.
The officer responds by pushing the man’s hand as the latter continues to point a finger at his face.
“Stop pushing me,” the man snaps back. “Stop pushing me or I’ll smack your gook ass!”
The video appears to have been originally posted on Instagram by a now-defunct profile called @famoussrichard. Screen recordings of the video were then shared by multiple accounts on Twitter.
Police sources identified the officer in question as part of an anti-shoplifting detail in Times Square, according to the New York Post.
As of press time, the NYPD has not made any announcement or statement about the incident.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, reportedly attributed the incident to “racist hatred” emboldened by “anti-cop politicians and activists.”
“They have encouraged threats and abuse towards police officers. And they have made sure that police officers can’t do anything about it without jeopardizing their careers,” Lynch told the Post.
This is not the first time an Asian NYPD officer wound up on the receiving end of racist abuse.
In 2021, 17-year veteran Vincent Cheung sued a man who called him a “goddamn cat eater” and taunted him with “soy sauce” chants — an incident that was also caught on camera.
Cheung’s suit, however, was dismissed by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler, who decided that the defendant was ultimately protected by his First Amendment rights. The judge instead encouraged Cheung and his lawyers to take the matter to legislature, saying “I do believe the legislation should go back and review whether they should protect racist and hateful speech as part of the civil rights law.”
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