In New York, Bystanders Watch While a Man Engages in Anti-Asian Hate Crime
A 65-year old Asian American woman was assaulted on March 31 in Manhattan. The attack was caught on camera. Turns out that the suspect is already on lifetime parole for killing his mom.
The attacker, Brandon Elliot, 38, was arrested and charged with two counts of felony assault as a hate crime. He was remanded into custody and his next court date is scheduled for Monday, April 4. If he is convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
The victim, Vilma Kari, who emigrated from the Philippines several decades ago, was on her way to church just before noon in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on Monday. The attacker yelled, “F—- you, you don’t belong here,” and began the assault. He kicked her in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, then stomped on her head over and over. Elliot lived at a hotel that is now a homeless shelter a few blocks from where the attack took place.
Video shows that one man watched the entire attack from inside an apartment building lobby. He was tying boxes to a cart but stared out the doors as the woman was kicked in the head. He did nothing to assist her. Two other men, building security guards, walked toward the entrance as the attacker left and closed the door on the victim.
The guards told their union representative that they waited until the attacker left because he had a knife. Then they flagged down a police car. Detective Michael Rodriguez said Wednesday that no 911 calls had been made in the case, and patrol officers driving by came upon the victim after she’d been assaulted.
The assault spurred an increase in calls for an end to anti-Asian hate crimes in Manhattan, and had another side effect because of the three bystanders caught on video. They were safely inside a luxury condo building’s lobby, watching, but not intervening.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you’ve got to help your fellow New Yorker,” he said. He called the bystanders’ inaction “absolutely unacceptable.”
Apparently, two of the bystander witnesses were employees of the condo tower from which they watched the attack. Said the Brodsky Organization, the company that manages the building, “The staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union.” The company is also trying to identify a “third-party vendor” who was also a witness so that “appropriate action can be taken.”
On Monday, the day city leaders gathered in Brooklyn to figure out quick action that could stop the rising tide of racist threats and violence, two videos of attacks on Asian Americans were publicized.
New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said on Twitter, “This is absolutely vile. These attacks against Asian American New Yorkers must end. Hate has no place here and we must always call it out when we see it.”
Andrew Yang, who is running for New York City mayor, said, “That has to be the message to people in New York City and really everywhere around the country, that if you see something, you have to do something. And I was in a situation like this not that long ago—if one person acts, then other people will act along with them. But a lot of folks need someone to lead the way.”
Recent reports from Asian Americans in New York reveal that they’ve been punched in subway cars, pummeled with metal pipes, and spit upon.
The woman who was assaulted was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition. The NYPD said she “sustained a serious physical injury.”
The NYPD asked the public for help to identify the assailant, and then, upon information from the public, found and arrested him early Wednesday morning. In 2002, Elliot was convicted of killing his mother. He stabbed her three times in the heart with a kitchen knife. Elliot was 19 at the time. He was paroled in 2019 after having been denied parole twice before.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea spoke at a news conference Wednesday. He said, “For the life of me, I don’t understand why we are releasing or pushing people out of prison — not to give them second chances, but to put them into homeless facilities or shelters, or in this case a hotel — and expect good outcomes. We need real opportunities. We need real safety nets.”
The other attack from Monday has not been solved. Video shows an Asian man on a subway train being shoved by another passenger. The man is then punched in the face repeatedly and then locked in a chokehold. The attacker gripped the Asian man’s neck tightly until he passed out on the floor of the train. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force said, “The NYPD is aware of this video and is investigating.”
Scott Stringer, NYC’s comptroller and a candidate for mayor, tweeted: “This is absolutely disgusting. Asian Americans belong in New York and are an integral part of our city. We have to continue to speak out, we have to continue to protect our AAPI neighbors, and we have to act immediately to #StopAsianHate.”
Actress Gemma Chan tweeted about the bystanders’ behavior, ”This is despicable. The attack and the guard’s inaction and closing the door on the victim.”
Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) was among officials calling for an end to anti-Asian hate crimes. She said the video reinforced a deep lack of empathy for Asian Americans. “We’ve gone from being invisible to being seen as sub-human. We just want to be seen as American like everyone else,” she tweeted.
These assaults and others like them have become significantly more prevalent since the onset of the pandemic. Advocates and experts say the increase is largely a result of the “xenophobic rhetoric” that described the pandemic’s origins.
The Biden administration announced Tuesday six actions aimed at the rise in attacks and harassment of Pacific Islander and Asian American communities. In a statement, the White House said, “Across our nation, an outpouring of grief and outrage continues at the horrific violence and xenophobia perpetrated against Asian American communities, especially Asian American women and girls. As President Biden said during his first prime-time address, anti-Asian violence and xenophobia is wrong, it’s un-American, and it must stop.”
