New York man who kicked, stomped elderly Asian-American woman killed his own mother in 2002, police say
- The victim was identified as Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old woman who immigrated from the Philippines
- Police identified the suspect as Brandon Elliot, who is on lifetime parole for fatally stabbing his mother
Police identified the suspect as Brandon Elliot, 38, a parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago. They said Elliott was the man recorded on video kicking and stomping the woman on Monday. They said Elliot was living at a hotel that serves as a homeless shelter a few blocks from the scene of the attack.
Elliot was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx in 2002, when he was 19. He was released from prison in 2019 and is on lifetime parole. He faces charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault in Monday’s attack, police said.
00:58
Asian woman, 65, beaten and stomped on in New York
The victim was identified as Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old woman who immigrated from the Philippines, her daughter told The New York Times; the newspaper did not identify Kari’s daughter.
Kari was walking to church in midtown Manhattan when police said a man kicked her in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, stomped on her face, shouted anti-Asian slurs and told her “you don’t belong here” before casually walking away.
She was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday after being treated for serious injuries, a hospital spokesperson said.
The attack on Monday was among the latest in a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, and happened just weeks after a mass shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent. The surge in violence has been linked in part to misplaced blame for the coronavirus pandemic and former president Donald Trump’s use of racially charged terms like “Chinese virus”.
03:53
New Yorkers rally against anti-Asian violence in call for solidarity after Atlanta shootings
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Monday’s attack “absolutely disgusting and outrageous.” He said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that witnesses did not intervene.
“I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you’ve got to help your fellow New Yorker,” de Blasio said on Tuesday.
The attack happened late Monday morning outside a luxury apartment building two blocks from Times Square.
Shocking video shows Asian-American woman kicked, stomped on in New York
Two workers inside the building who appeared to be security guards were seen on surveillance video witnessing the attack but failing to come to the woman’s aid. One of them was seen closing the building door as the woman was on the ground. The attacker was able to casually walk away while onlookers watched, the video showed.
The building’s management company said they were suspended pending an investigation. The workers’ union said they called for help immediately.
Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, said the victim “could easily have been my mother.” He too criticised the bystanders, saying their inaction was “exactly the opposite of what we need here in New York City.”
02:30
Chinese granny punched in the face in US, as Congress holds hearing on Asian hate crimes
This year in New York City, there have been 33 hate crimes with an Asian victim as of Sunday, police said. There were 11 such attacks by the same time last year.
On Friday, in the same neighbourhood as Monday’s attack, a 65-year-old Asian-American woman was accosted by a man waving an unknown object and shouting anti-Asian insults. A 48-year-old man was arrested the next day and charged with menacing. He is not suspected in Monday’s attack.
Hundreds march in Los Angeles’ Koreatown as part of ‘Stop Asian Hate’ rallies
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced last week that the department would increase outreach and patrols in predominantly Asian communities, including the use of undercover officers to prevent and disrupt attacks.
The neighbourhood where Monday’s attack occurred, Hell’s Kitchen, is predominantly white, with an Asian population of less than 20 per cent, according to city demographic data.
Police said on Wednesday that they arrested a man who repeatedly threatened an Asian-American woman inside a San Francisco bakery and in one instance mimicked a gun with his hand and simulated shooting the people inside.
Darrell Hunter, 45, was arrested on Tuesday near the business in the Tenderloin neighbourhood after the woman called police, Officer Adam Lobsinger said in a statement.
The woman first called officers on Sunday when she accused Hunter of entering the bakery and threatening to “shoot Chinese people.”
The woman told officers it was the third day in a row Hunter had entered the store and caused a disruption. She said it was the first time she had called police because of the threat of violence, Lobsinger said.
She again called police on Tuesday after she said Hunter returned and mimicked a gun with his hand. Hunter had left the business by the time officers arrived, but police found him a few blocks away and arrested him.
