In New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said his office’s Hate Crimes Unit is prosecuting more hate crimes involving anti-Asian incidents than it has since the task force launched more than a decade ago. Bragg’s announcement came as the prosecutor introduced murder charges against an individual who allegedly attacked a man in East Harlem last spring “for no other reason than his race,” causing injuries that ultimately resulted in the man’s death.

A man who allegedly assaulted a Chinese immigrant in New York City last year has been charged with murder in the second degree as a hate crime, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday. Jarrod Powell allegedly approached 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma from behind as the man collected cans at an East Harlem corner, struck him and kicked him in the head multiple times in April 2021, according to police. Ma died of his injuries eight months later.

A married couple was accused Wednesday of trafficking several women for sex in New York City, including two victims who were placed in the wife’s foster care and later pimped out by her husband, prosecutors alleged.