Homeless People Attack Five Religious Sites, Chinatown Community Calls for Severe Punishment and Halt to Homeless Shelter Construction

In a recent incident in Manhattan’s Chinatown, a series of targeted vandalism cases against religious sites occurred, with a total of five religious locations being vandalized. The suspect involved in the crimes is reported to be a homeless vagrant. On March 19th, a community gathering was held in Chinatown to demand strict prosecution of the perpetrator and to urge the city government to cease establishing homeless shelters in Chinatown.

According to Yang Shenghua, a patron of the Sangde Temple at 15 Pike Street, and other sources familiar with the incidents, the suspect crossed the fence around 1 a.m. on Tuesday (the 18th), stole food offerings, circled around, then used a fire extinguisher to repeatedly strike the white Guanyin statue at the entrance of the temple on the second floor, resulting in one hand of the statue breaking off and two fingers from the other hand detaching. The suspect also picked up a Buddha statue and smashed it on the ground. The same suspect returned around 5:30 a.m. on the same day to steal food offerings before leaving.

15 Pike Street was one of the locations where the incidents took place. The police stated that the suspect targeted a total of five religious sites: 20 Eldridge Street, 139 Kenmare Street, near East Broadway and Market Street, 15 Pike Street, and 158 Henry Street, with the first three occurring in the jurisdiction of the Fifth Precinct, and the latter two in the Seventh Precinct.

On March 18th, around 8:05 a.m., a call was made to 911 reporting a disturbance at 20 Pell Street. Upon police arrival, the suspect was apprehended on the spot. Witnesses described how the suspect used metal tools to break windows and vandalize the interior decorations of the Pu Zhao Temple at that location.

The 49-year-old homeless suspect, Ouyang Taihong, was arrested by the Fifth Precinct police around 9:44 a.m. on the same day and formally charged with multiple hate crimes, criminal mischief, and burglary.

On the 19th, community leaders, residents, and representatives from various organizations strongly condemned the acts of vandalism against religious facilities. District Leader of the Democratic Party, Yu Jinshan, expressed shock and anger at this religious hate crime as a Catholic believer.

Wang Di, running for District Leader in Community B of District 65, noted that while the homeless suspect has been charged with religious hate crimes, he called on the city government to improve its policies towards minority ethnic communities and to stop concentrating homeless shelters in Chinatown. As this year is an election year, Wang hoped that all mayoral candidates would present better solutions to address the issue of rampant homelessness in the community.

Chen Jianshan, co-chair of the Greater Chinatown Civil Rights Alliance, emphasized the urgent need for treatment for homeless individuals with mental health issues in the community. He pointed out that once mental health issues are addressed, the number of homeless individuals would decrease as they could find jobs to solve their problems, thereby improving public safety.

“Many drug users have mental health issues,” he remarked, suggesting that the “excessive number of shelters” in the community posed additional security risks.

In order to prevent similar crimes, Yu Jinshan put forward four demands: enhance patrols of religious sites in Chinatown, call for strict prosecution by the district attorney’s office, propose a state bill for mandatory treatment of mental health patients by the governor, and halt the construction of a homeless shelter at 91 East Broadway.

Yu Jinshan stressed that while the United States respects religious freedom and the Chinese community maintains an open and inclusive attitude towards religion, the continuous occurrence of religious hatred in Chinese communities serves as a warning. He emphasized the need for unity and action to curb the spread of religious hate crimes.