Less than a month after two of its Chinese students suffered physical attacks, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is dealing with yet another anti-Asian incident, according to reports.
This time, an Asian staff member was running on Lakeshore Path near Lot 60 on July 4 when a man inside a car began yelling racial slurs at him.
After hurling racist abuse, the aggressor got out of his vehicle and approached the staff member, who then ran out of fear.
University police, which received a report of a potential hate crime on July 6, have reportedly made contact with the suspect. They are now referring disorderly conduct charges to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office with a request for a hate crime enhancement.
The suspect was identified as 28-year-old Tom N. Gbean of Oswego, Illinois. He has no affiliation with UW-Madison.
The incident follows attacks on a doctoral student and an undergraduate student on June 14. Both students were of Chinese descent.
A group of young suspects — including a 15-year-old — is believed to be responsible for both cases, among other similar attacks. They first allegedly targeted the undergraduate student with a banana before violently assaulting the doctoral student.
