The suspect of a brutal assault on an Asian-American woman has been arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, reported the New York City Police Department.
The arrest, posted on the department’s hate crimes Twitter account early Wednesday, came after the man was videotaped kicking and trampling a woman near Times Square on Monday.
In another statement, police identified the suspect as Brandon Elliot, a 38-year-old man from New York City, and said that He faces charges of attempted battery as a hate crime, battery as a hate crime, and attempted battery.
The 65-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, was walking through downtown Manhattan a few blocks from Times Square Monday afternoon when a man approached and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her down, police said.
Afterwards, the man stepped on his face several times while uttering racist insults and then quietly walking away from the scene, authorities added. The woman was discharged from hospital on Tuesday after being treated by serious injuriesexplained a hospital spokesman.
Surveillance video released by the police showed two people who appeared to be security guards in a nearby building waiting without intervening. The two are suspended while the incident is investigated. His union reported that, according to his information, they asked for help immediately.
The attack occurred in the middle of a nationwide rise in racist crimes against Asians and just weeks after a shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people, six of them Asian women. NYPD indicates that there have been 33 hate crimes against Asians so far this year, reported media.
The mayor of the city, Bill de Blasio, commented that the video of the attack is “absolutely disgusting and heinous” and added that it is “absolutely unacceptable” that the witnesses did not intervene.
“No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you have to help another New Yorker,” De Blasio said Tuesday in his meeting with the press.
“If you see someone being attacked, do what you can,” he added. Make noise. Shout out what’s going on. Try to help. Call the police immediately. We cannot sit idly by and watch a cruel act happen ”.
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