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Justice Department said on Friday it would investigate a rising wave of hate crimes in the US as Asian Americans have experienced a growing number of racially motivated attacks since former President Donald Trump began referring to Covid 19 as a quote.

China Virus, A DOJ official part of the civil rights division, said the office is working with the FBI, federal prosecutors and local police to evaluate possible hate crimes without providing further details, though another official told Reuters the statement was a direct response to the increasing reports of violence against Asian Americans.

From March of 2022 December of last year, there were more than 2800 reported incidents of anti Asian hate incidents in the United States, according to Stop a P I Hate.

While verbal harassment has made up more than 70% of the incidents, more than 8% involved physical assaults.

In one such example, a surveillance video that has since gone viral showed a 91 year old Asian man in Oakland, California, being shoved to the ground in late January.

A suspect in the attack was later arrested and now faces multiple assault charges for a number of Chinatown incidents.