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Attack on an Asian woman in New York makes national headlines. Here’s what happened

New York police said they arrested a suspect in the attack.

By Herb Scribner Herb Scribnerhscribner@deseretnews.com
SHARE Attack on an Asian woman in New York makes national headlines. Here’s what happened
New York City Police Department Officer Rodney Hierro, right, keeps an eye on pedestrians and vendors along a busy section of Main Street in Flushing, a largely Asian American neighborhood, Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in the Queens borough of New York.

New York City police officer Rodney Hierro, right, keeps an eye on pedestrians and vendors along a busy section of Main Street in Flushing, a largely Asian American neighborhood, on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in the Queens borough of New York.

Kathy Willens, Associated Press

New York police have arrested a suspect who allegedly attacked an Asian American woman near New York City’s Times Square — an attack that made national headlines over the last week, The Associated Press reports.

What happened in New York?

A viral video shows a man kicking and stomping on an Asian American woman. Police immediately began investigating who committed the act, according to The Associated Press.

  • Eventually, the police arrested Brandon Elliot, who is “a parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago.”
  • Elliot faces charges of felony assault as a hate crime for the attack.

What did the video show?

  • Per The New York Times, the viral video shows the woman, identified as 65-year-old Vilma Kari, “walking down a street near Times Square when a man, in broad daylight, suddenly kicked her in the stomach.”
  • “She crumpled to the sidewalk. He kicked her once in the head. Then again. And again,” The New York Times reports.
  • A police official told The New York Times that the man yelled an obscenity at her and then told her, “You don’t belong here.”

The New York Police Department posted the video on social media, asking for any tips of information from people about the assault.

Attacks on Asian Americans

The attack came amid recent calls from people in New York to improve hate crime laws. It also followed a number of other attacks on Asian Americans in New York City, according to The Washington Post.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he plans to combat racism against Asian Americans by “increasing accessibility to hate crime data, requiring new training for local police and establishing nearly $50 million in grants to support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault who face language barriers,” according to The New York Times.