Shocking moment pole-wielding maniac trashes Asian-owned convenience store

This is the shocking moment a pole-wielding maniac trashed an Asian-owned convenience store while yelling racial slurs in the latest racially-motivated attack. 

Surveillance footage shot at Plaza Sundries in Charlotte, North Carolina, shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and shattering refrigerator glass with a street sign post. 

The maniac continues his rampage around the store as a man who appears to be his friend cheers him on during the vicious attack on Tuesday at the store near Charlotte’s main transit hub.  

It comes in the wake of a uptake in anti-Asian violence, with a 65-year-old woman kicked in New York City and eight people shot murdered at Atlanta massage parlors, six of whom were Asian women. 

Surveillance footage shot at Plaza Sundries in Charlotte, North Carolina, shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and shattering refrigerator glass with a street sign post

Despite the increase in attention on such attacks, the violence and racially charged language was nothing new, said Mark Sung, whose parents own the store, and his wife Grace Lee Sung.

‘When my husband got the call [about the attack], it was like a routine,’ Lee Sung said. ‘He was like, “Okay, check the mess. See the surveillance. File the [police] report.”

The pandemic has fueled the tension, the couple said, with some people blaming the coronavirus on the store’s owners. They have lived in the U.S. for decades since moving from South Korea.

‘It’s like, “Hey, you´re different,”‘ Lee Sung said, offering a sanitized summary of the insults. ‘”You obviously can´t be from around here. Go back to your country.”‘

He said similar violent attacks happen around once a year. 

But the owners have experienced a different sentiment in the days since the attack, with locals offering to help them. 

This includes a woman arriving at the store and gave the owners soup; a pizza deliveryman showed up with five pies; a local doctor dropped off for a check and more than $30,000 raised through GoFundMe to cover the store’s damage.

‘My in-laws are more shocked that people actually care than they were about the [attack],’ Lee Sung said. ‘And it took them a while to process why they were getting so much attention.’

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that’s responsible for security at the transit center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, 24, The Charlotte Observer reported. 

The maniac continues his rampage around the store as a man who appears to be his friend cheers him on during the vicious attack on Tuesday at the store near Charlotte's main transit hub

The maniac continues his rampage around the store as a man who appears to be his friend cheers him on during the vicious attack on Tuesday at the store near Charlotte’s main transit hub

He was arrested for robbery with a dangerous weapon, communicating threats, disorderly conduct, injury to personal property and resisting a public officer, according to public records. It’s unclear if he’s hired an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that's responsible for security at the transit center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, 24 (pictured in a booking photo)

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that’s responsible for security at the transit center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, 24 (pictured in a booking photo) 

Hate crimes nationally against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased 150% during the pandemic, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

The outpouring of support for the store’s owners is making them ‘feel heard,’ Lee Sung said of her in-laws.

‘My mother in law can´t stop crying every time someone says, “I´m so sorry for what you´re going through,”‘ she said. ‘It´s just a reminder that – wow, things are not supposed to be this way.’

But the family is being cautious moving forward.

‘She´s also scared because she is not used to all this attention,’ Mark Sung said of his mother. ‘So, she´s also kind of nervous… We´re just trying to be careful.’

A teen is under arrest over the November assault of an Asian couple

Video recirculating this week helped lead to the arrest

A teenager was arrested Friday for an attack that took place on November 19, 2020 in the late afternoon, in Tacoma, Washington – a suburb of Seattle

Last week, a 65-year-old woman was viciously attacked while walking to church near New York City’s Times Square. The attack heightened already palpable levels of outrage over anti-Asian attacks that escalated with the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a teenager was arrested Friday for a random attack on an Asian couple in November, after footage of the attack resurfaced online and was seen on the news by the victims’ daughter.

The attack took place on November 19, 2020 in the late afternoon, in Tacoma, Washington – a suburb of Seattle.

The attack began when the suspect intentionally bumped into the male victim as the couple was walking home, court documents allege.

The suspect, who has not been named by police, then allegedly began punching the male victim, ultimately breaking one of his ribs.

The incident was reported to police at the time, but footage of the attack only emerged online recently, KING 5 reports.

The daughter of the victims called police after seeing the footage shown on the news. 

New York City police are hunting a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn. The video was released Monday

New York City police are hunting a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn. The video was released Monday 

Meanwhile, New York City police are continuing to hunt a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn. 

The NYPD’s hate crimes unit tweeted footage from the incident Monday.   

It is unclear when the assault occurred but it believed to have taken place on a Manhattan-bound J train. The condition of the man assaulted is not known.

No one steps in to help to the attack, according to the footage. Police said: ‘The NYPD is aware of this video and is investigating.’ 

There has been a wave of high-profile and sometimes deadly assaults against Asian Americans since the COVD-19 pandemic began. Protesters have taken to the streets in response what many said has become a troubling surge of anti-Asian sentiments. 

Meanwhile, today former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee was slammed for a ‘racist’ and ‘anti-Asian’ tweet claiming he will ‘identify as Chinese’ so that Coca-Cola, Delta and Nike will like him.

‘I’ve decided to “identify” as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my “values” and I’ll probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Ain’t America great?’ Huckabee tweeted Saturday morning.

Huckabee appeared to be referring to Georgia’s sweeping new voting law, which many have blasted as voter suppression, while also mocking those who oppose hate and violence against Asian Americans.

Today former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee was slammed for a 'racist' and 'anti-Asian' tweet claiming he will 'identify as Chinese' so that Coca-Cola, Delta and Nike will like him

Today former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee was slammed for a ‘racist’ and ‘anti-Asian’ tweet claiming he will ‘identify as Chinese’ so that Coca-Cola, Delta and Nike will like him 

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered a review of how the Justice Department can best deploy its resources to combat hate crimes during a surge in incidents targeting Asian Americans.

Garland issued a department-wide memo announcing the 30-day review, citing the ‘recent rise in hate crimes and hate incidents, particularly the disturbing trend in reports of violence against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community since the start of the pandemic’.

Asian American activists say Trump is partly to blame because of his rhetoric around COVID-19, which he frequently referred to as the ‘Chinese virus’.

They say he gave license for people to show racism that was already rooted in decades of anti-Asian sentiment in the US.

According to a report from Stop AAPI Hate, more than 3,800 anti-Asian incidents were reported to the organization between March 2020 through February.

The group, which tracks incidents of discrimination, hate and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., said that number is “only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur.”

According to the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, hate crimes targeting Asians ballooned by 150 per cent last year, while hate crimes overall during the pandemic went down 7 per cent.

Huckabee (pictured) appeared to be referring to Georgia's sweeping new voting law, which many have blasted as voter suppression, while also mocking those who oppose hate and violence against Asian Americans

Huckabee (pictured) appeared to be referring to Georgia’s sweeping new voting law, which many have blasted as voter suppression, while also mocking those who oppose hate and violence against Asian Americans