NEW YORK (AP) – A suspect in a brutal assault on an Asian-American woman has been arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, the New York City Police Department said.
The arrest, posted on the department’s hate crimes Twitter account early Wednesday morning, 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 he faces charges of attempted hate crime, assault 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.
Later, 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 the hospital on Tuesday after being treated for serious injuries, a hospital spokesman explained.
Surveillance video released by 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 said that, according to his information, they asked for help immediately.
The attack came amid a nationwide surge in racist crimes against Asians and just weeks after an Atlanta shooting that killed eight people, six of them Asian women. The NYPD say there have been 33 hate crimes against Asian victims so far this year, news outlets reported.
The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said 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, they 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 said. 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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