New York hate crime: Man beat elderly Asian woman, while witnesses just watched

By Tim Elfrink

The NYPD arrested a suspect early Wednesday in the brutal attack on a 65-year-old Asian and American woman. in Manhattan which was caught on security cameras Monday. The suspect was on life probation for the murder of his mother years earlier, police said.

Brandon Elliot, 38, was arrested at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday in Manhattan, New York City police said in a statement shared with The Washington Post, and charged with assault as a hate crime. Elliot was convicted of murder in 2002, WNBC reported.

Attack has stepped up alerts to end hate crimes against Asians in the city and generated strong criticism for tthree passers-by captured on video in the lobby of a luxury condominium building which witnessed the attack but did not intervene.

“It’s absolutely vile. These attacks on Asian New Yorkers must end, ”Corey Johnson, president of the New York City Council, said on Twitter., in a link to a video of the attack on the woman. “Hate has no place here and we should always call him when we see him ”.

In recent weeks, Asian Americans in New York have reported being beaten in subway cars, spat and beaten with metal pipes.– a terrible echo of a national trend that activists say gained ground when former President Donald Trump used racist terms to link the coronavirus to the pandemic in China.

Monday’s attack happened just before noon in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, Police said the unidentified victim was walking West 43rd Street. The woman was on her way to church, WABC reported, when the attacker shouted, “Fuck you, you don’t belong here” and started assaulting her.

The man kicked her in the stomach, throwing her on the sidewalk, then brutally hit her on the head again and again.

Video shows a man in the lobby of the building observing the entire attack. This man, who appeared to be tying a stack of boxes to a cart, peered through the glass doors as the woman was repeatedly kicked in the head, but He made no move to help her. Two other men, who were security guards According to WABC, they then made their way to the entrance when the assailant left and closed the door on the victim.

The woman “suffered a serious bodily injury”, NYPD said, and she was taken to New York University’s Langone Hospital, where she was in stable condition.

After asking the public for help in identifying the perpetrator, the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force announced Elliot’s arrest early Wednesday. He was convicted in 2002 of a brutal attack on his mother, Bridget Johnson, 42., according to an account of New York Daily News at this moment. Police said that Elliot, then 19, stabbed her three times in the heart with a kitchen knife and killed her.

It is not known when he was granted parole in this case.

The other attack shared by Monday remains unresolved. Video of incident on subway train shows Asian man with backpack being pushed by another passenger, who then begins punching him in the face several times. Finally, the passenger locks the man in a strangulation, holding him firmly by the neck until he passes out on the floor of the train.

“NYPD is aware of this video and is investigating”the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force said on Twitter Monday morning.

This week, city officials, activists and celebrities condemned the videos.

“It is absolutely disgusting. Asian Americans belong to New York and are an integral part of our cityNew York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer tweeted. “We need to keep talking, we need to keep protecting our AAPI neighbors and we need to act immediately for #StopAsianHate.”

Others questioned the apparent inaction of spectators in the lobby during the attack on the 65-year-old.

“It is contemptible. The attack and inaction of the guard and the closing of the door to the victim “actress Gemma Chan tweeted.

Representative Grace Meng (D-New York), who was among those responsible for calling for an end to hate crimes against Asians at the Brooklyn meeting on Monday morning, said the video reinforced a deep lack of empathy for Asian Americans.

“We have gone from being invisible to being sub-human,” Meng tweeted. “We just wanna be seen as Americans like everyone else“.

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