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NEW YORK (AP) – The daughter of an Asian American who was attacked in New York said Thursday that a person not seen on surveillance footage helped the woman by screaming to distract her attacker while others told her watched and did nothing to intervene.
Elizabeth Kari, writing on a fundraising webpage she got positioned for her mother’s care, said the onlooker was across the street when a man approached his 65-year-old mother Vilma Kari, kicked her in stomach, hit her to the ground and stomped on her face several times late Monday morning in Times Square.
The person, who has remained anonymous, “screamed and screamed to get the attention of the abuser,” Elizabeth Kari wrote. The GoFundMe fundraising service has verified the authenticity of the web page. The Associated Press could not reach the Karis for comment; Elizabeth Kari was left with a message requesting an interview.
“I want to THANK YOU for stepping in and doing the right thing,” she wrote. “This gesture of action is what we need in our world right now. I hope that one day my mother and I can thank you personally.
Brandon Elliot, a 38-year-old parolee convicted of murdering his mother almost two decades ago, was charged on Wednesday with assault and attempted assault as hate crimes. His lawyers urged the public to “reserve judgment until all the facts are presented in court.”
The attack, one of the latest in a nationwide outbreak of anti-Asian hate crimes, drew widespread condemnation and raised alarms over what appeared to be onlookers’ failure to help. Police said no one called 911 and passing patrollers ran into Kari after she was assaulted.
Vilma Kari, who emigrated from the Philippines decades ago, suffered serious injuries, including a fractured pelvis. She was released from the hospital on Tuesday and is “safe and in a good mood,” her daughter said.
“Although the healing process was not easy, she has always been a resilient role model for me,” wrote Elizabeth Kari. “We hope that over time she will make a full recovery.”
Vilma Kari was attacked outside a luxury apartment building on her way to church. His Facebook profile features a photo showing St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Two workers in the lobby of the building were seen on surveillance video watching the violence but doing nothing to help Kari. The video shows one of the workers closing the building door as she was lying on the ground about 10 seconds after the attacker started to walk away. The building management company said the workers had been suspended pending an investigation.
A widely seen clip of the video ended as the attacker moved away from Kari. His daughter wrote on Thursday that the man was crossing the street and walking towards the onlooker who was yelling at him. This person has remained anonymous, she said.
Workers’ union SEIU 32BJ said on Wednesday that workers waited for the attacker to move away to check on Kari and report a nearby patrol car because they believed he had a knife.
A longer version of the surveillance video showed the workers, identified by their union as doormen, waiting in the lobby for over a minute before exiting and approaching Kari. About a minute later, the video shows a police car pulling over. Workers and officers are seen with her on the sidewalk for several minutes before the video stops.
Elizabeth Kari wrote that in addition to her care, her mother would like to donate a portion of the proceeds from the fundraiser to support other victims and help organizations that raise awareness and work to prevent anti-Asian hate crimes Americans. Almost $ 100,000 was raised in less than a day – far exceeding the goal of $ 20,000.
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Follow Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak
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This story has been corrected to show that building workers waited inside for over a minute before approaching the attack victim, not around 40 seconds, according to surveillance video.
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