Senior Japanese diplomat attacked in US in alleged hate crime

Last month, a 62-year-old Japanese diplomat in Oregon was assaulted by an American woman in what local media reports said was an alleged anti-Asian hate crime, according to court records.

According to south china morning postYuzo Yoshioka, head of Japan’s consulate office in Portland, was pushed to the ground by a woman while walking alone in the western US city’s downtown area on June 17 around 1.20 p.m., the ministry said. The woman was reportedly homeless.

The diplomat was hospitalized for head injuries after hitting the pavement but was discharged the same day. According to the ministry, he has returned to work.

Independent quoted in an article in Oregon Live, that the Portland police officer who responded to the scene said that the diplomat told him that his assailant had “unprovokedly” pushed him to the ground. The officer “saw profuse bleeding from the victim’s back as the paramedics assisted him”.

The suspect, identified as 23-year-old Arissa Jean Minyon Robinson, has been charged with fourth-degree assault, a gross prejudicial crime and strangulation.

Court records show that Ms. Robinson is being held in jail.

After the incident, Mr Yoshioka told broadcaster KATU that he was “happy to be assigned to Portland and that the good image I have about Portland hasn’t changed” despite the incident.

According to court records, the attack was part of a “wider pattern” by Ms Robinson of targeting people of Asian descent.