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Two Filipinos injured in separate attacks in New York

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Don Tagala | TFC News New York

Two Filipinos were recently assaulted and robbed in two different locations in New York City just a day apart.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="53-year-old Filipino Melvin Dizon. Courtesy: Daily News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/03/31/20220331_melvin-dizon.jpg"/><figcaption>53-year-old Filipino Melvin Dizon. Courtesy: Daily News</figcaption></figure></div>On Monday, at a Midtown Manhattan McDonald&#x27;s, no one bothered to help 53-year-old Melvin Dizon, as he was being beaten unconscious and robbed while he was getting breakfast.Customers and employees inside the fast-food chain just stood there and watched as dizon called out for help and for somebody to call the police, but no one did.A security video provided by the New York Police Department to ABS-CBN News showed Dizon&#x27;s attacker coming up from behind and hitting him twice, before flinging him against a wall and knocking him down with a hard punch.The attacker kicked Dizon, before taking his wallet and cellphone, then fled the scene. The victim sustained a severe head injury and is currently admitted at the Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition.Philippine Consul General Elmer Cato said he is perturbed by the incident.&quot;This is the first time we have heard Filipinos expressing fears of being attacked in New York... We believe cases of hate crimes are underreported. They&#x27;re afraid of retaliations and a number of incidents involve undocumented Filipinos. They might be deported. Filipinos also play down racial insults. They&#x27;d rather not report the incidents to the police,&quot; Cato told ANC.Cato noted that Monday&#x27;s incident brings to 33 the number of anti-Asian hate and criminal incidents involving Filipinos, that have been reported to or monitored by the Philippine Consulate General since last year. Cato added that it&#x27;s also the seventh incident targeting a member of the Filipino community this year alone.On Sunday, a 73-year-old Filipino man was just buying lottery tickets at a Midtown Manhattan store near Times Square when a man tried to grab his wallet. He resisted and kept his wallet, but after crossing the street to get away from the scene, the attacker followed him and pushed the unnamed elderly Pinoy to the ground on 8th Avenue &amp; 40th.While it is not being investigated as a hate crime, reports say the victim believes he heard some racial slurs. The Filipino suffered pain, swelling and abrasion around his left eye. He was transported to the Bellevue Hospital and was in stable condition.The victim retained his wallet but the attacker, identified as Dominic Staton, fled on foot to a nearby subway station.Staton, a homeless man, has been arrested and charged with attempted robbery, attempted grand larceny and assault. He was ordered held on $40,000 cash and $120,000 bond at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday. He is scheduled to be in court on Friday.On Wednesday, dozens of Filipinos are expected to attend a &#x27;Rise Up&#x27; solidarity rally in New York City&#x27;s Foley Square to call for an end to anti-Asian hate.Two weeks ago, a 67-year-old Filipina was brutally assaulted at her doorstep in Yonkers, New York. Cato said they have reached out to New York authorities since the string of hate crimes began last year, and that they have been teaching Filipinos self-defense lessons.

Two Filipino Americans are injured in separate attacks in New York. There have now been seven such incidents targeting members of the Fil-Am community this year alone.