Man Who Pushed Asian Woman to the Ground in Queens Indicted With Hate Crime

A grand jury in Queens County has indicted a man with a hate crime for allegedly shoving an Asian American woman to the ground in Flushing in February.

The crime: Patrick Mateo, 47, is accused of pushing the 52-year-old woman to the pavement following an argument outside a bakery near Main Street on Feb. 16, Forest Hills Post reported.

Footage of the incident showed Mateo throwing a box at the woman before pushing her to the ground following an argument around 2 p.m.
As the victim fell, she hit her head on a metal newsstand box and sustained a long cut on her forehead, requiring 10 stitches.
The suspect was arrested less than 48 hours but was soon released “under supervision,” NextShark reported.
At the time, police did not consider the attack as a hate crime. In an Instagram post, the woman’s daughter said Mateo had called her mother racial slurs before attacking.

Anti-Asian hate: Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said a subsequent search of Mateo’s phone allegedly “revealed anti-Asian sentiment,” without elaborating on what the anti-Asian sentiment was.

Prosecutors reportedly needed time to establish the evidence of a hate crime before bringing charges against the suspect.
According to Katz, they have concluded the victim was targeted for her ethnicity and have since charged Mateo with a hate crime.
Mateo, who is now waiting for his arraignment in Queens Supreme Court, is also facing assault and aggravated harassment charges that could land him up to one year in jail.

Featured Image via NYPD109Pct (left), CeFaan Kim (right)

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