The man who allegedly attacked an elderly Asian woman in New York City was arrested, and the alleged perpetrator has quite the arrest record.
Brandon Elliot, 38, was arrested by New York City police early Wednesday morning and charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count each of attempted assault as a hate crime, assault, and attempted assault. On Monday, a man was caught on camera kicking a woman in the stomach, causing her to fall down, only to then stomp on her head repeatedly. He also allegedly uttered anti-Asian slurs at her.
The assault happened outside an apartment lobby, which had cameras that captured the incident.
EIGHT DEAD IN SHOOTINGS AT THREE ATLANTA-AREA MASSAGE PARLORS
The victim “sustained a serious physical injury and was removed by EMS to NYU Langone Hospital,” the police said in a statement. She was discharged from the hospital a day after the attack.
In 2002, Elliot, a black man, was convicted of fatally stabbing his mother. He was released on parole in November 2019, according to the New York City Police Department. He was also arrested two years earlier for robbery.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans spiked 150% throughout 2020, a year largely upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Experts have speculated that the pandemic, which originated in China, may have fueled some of the rise in violence, according to a study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, citing the “recent rise in hate crimes and hate incidents” against Asian Americans, said on Tuesday in a memo to department staffers that the Department of Justice will be conducting a 30-day review of the Justice Department’s strategy in fighting hate crimes. The goal of the expedited review is “to determine how the Department can deploy all the tools at its disposal” to combat hate incidents.
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The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes gained more attention following the shooting of eight people, six of whom were Asian, in three shootings last week, all of which occurred in Atlanta. The alleged shooter denied his acts were racially motivated. Rather he said, according to the police, that he is a “sex addict,” and he wanted to “eliminate” the “temptation” of massage parlors. But activists claim the shooter’s argument is rooted in anti-Asian hate given the stereotypes of Asian massage parlors.
