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Man Caught On Video Spraying Febreze At Asian Man In Possible Coronavirus Related Hate Crime

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[Twitter/Screenshot/Public — User:  Celia Au]

Marlo Safi Culture Reporter
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Police are investigating a possible coronavirus related hate crime after a video began circulating on social media showing a man yelling at an Asian subway passenger to move, and then spraying at him with Febreze, the New York Post reported. 

The clip was originally posted on Facebook and shows a man on the N train in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, yelling at an Asian man to “move,” and when the man is asked why the victim has to move, he responds “because he’s standing right fucking next to me,” according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Here Are The Politicians And Media Outlets Pushing The Claim That Trump Called The Coronavirus A ‘Hoax’)

The man later reaches into his bag and pulls out a bottle of Febreze, and sprays in the victim’s direction.

“Tell him to move!” He yells. The victim approaches the man once he is sitting, and asks “Why is that? Why can’t I sit next to you?” A woman enters the frame and pulls the victim away. The man yells at him that he “better move — you’re being dumb right now. You’re being dumb.”

The police responded to a 911 call for the incident but the train had already left the station, according to the New York Post. 

‘The train was no longer there [at the station], so we were unable to take a report,” Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said at a crime briefing on Thursday according to the New York Post. “We are investigating it right now. Our Hate Crimes Task Force is reviewing the incident and it’s an ongoing investigation.”

Actor Celia Au shared the video on Twitter, saying to “stop discrimination cause the virus definitely doesn’t.” 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority shared her tweet with the video and listed the ways to prevent the coronavirus. “What doesn’t work: 1. Racism” the tweet says.