Siblings of hate susp say man ‘on Pluto’

The Brooklyn man accused in three anti-Asian hate crimes is mentally ill and off his medication, his siblings told the Daily News Thursday.

“He’s not racist. He’s out there. He’s on Pluto,” said Jason Rosa, the older brother of hate crime suspect Joseph Russo.

Russo, 28, is accused of pinning an Asian woman to a storefront and yanking her hair on March 22, and of shoving an elderly Asian man to the ground as he shopped for groceries Monday.

His brother and sister insisted Thursday he’s not a bigot, and said he shouldn’t be charged with a hate crime.

“We are very sorry if these people were scared or even got scratched. We apologize for his actions,” said Rosa, 44.

“My little brother is mental. He’s supposed to be on medication. He’s schizophrenic and bipolar,” Rosa said.

But Rosa questioned the severity of the attacks.

“If you look at the video [from Monday’s incident], he didn’t hit him, he walked into him. He didn’t say a word to him. How can that be a hate crime? The video of the lady, why did she just stay there?”

In the first March 22 attack — on Kings Highway at W. 6th St. — Russo approached the victim, who tried to avoid him because of the pandemic, and slammed her to the ground, prosecutors said.

He later attacked another woman on Kings Highway near E. 13th St. about 7:45 a.m. . Video shows Russo trying to pin a 32-year-old Asian woman against a storefront.

He then took a swing at her with his right fist as he grabbed her hair with his left hand, cops said.

In a third attack on Monday, a 77-year-old man was shopping for vegetables at the J&R NY Supermarket on Avenue U near E. 14th St. in Sheepshead Bay when Russo shoved him, cops said.

Russo has a history of unhinged behavior, with 14 prior arrests since 2009, police sources said. He’s been charged with public lewdness on two occasions, as well as criminal mischief, drug possession, assault, criminal trespass and burglary, sources said.

He’s been found unfit for trial in several previous cases, assistant district attorney Tziyonah Langsam said at his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Langsam asked that Russo be held without bail for another mental fitness hearing, but his lawyer, Judith Karpatkin, asked he be released without bail so he can continue mental health treatment.

Judge Michael Kitsis didn’t call for a mental fitness exam, instead opting to hold Russo on $100,000 bail and request psychiatric and medical treatment.