A man suspected of assaulting an Asian woman in New York has been arrested after surveillance video of the attack drew condemnation.
Police said Brandon Elliot, 38, is the man in the video assaulting the woman in midtown Manhattan on Monday. They said Elliot was living at a hotel that doubles as a homeless shelter a few blocks from the scene of the attack.
Elliot was convicted in 2002 of stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx when he was 19 years old. He was released in 2019 and is now on lifetime parole.
According to police, Elliot now faces charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault in Monday's attack.
The victim in the video has been identified as Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old woman who immigrated from the Philippines.
Kari was walking to church in midtown Manhattan Monday 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 walking away.
Monday’s attack is the latest in a national wave of suspected anti-Asian hate crimes , including a mass shooting in Atlanta that left eight dead, six of whom were women of Asian descent.
The recent surge of anti-Asian violence has been linked in part to misplaced blame for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
