NEW YORK – Police said a man suspected of brutally assaulting an Asian American woman in broad daylight had been arrested after surveillance video of the attack drew widespread condemnation.
New York Police Department said officers arrested Brandon Elliot, 38, of New York City, who faces charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault.
Elliot was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx in 2002 when he was 19, online court records show. He was released from prison in 2019 and is on lifetime parole.
The attack occurred before noon Monday outside a luxury apartment building in Midtown Manhattan. The suspect hurled anti-Asian sentiments and assaulted the 65-year-old woman, police said.
Surveillance video from inside the building captured images of the assault showing a man kicking and stomping the woman. In the video, staff inside the building do not immediately intervene, though a union representative said they called for help.
Elliot was living in a hotel nearby the attack that serves as a homeless shelter, police said. Commissioner Dermot Shea tweeted that Elliot was on parole on a supervised release. It was not immediately clear whether Elliot had an attorney.
“Great work by your @NYPDDetectives, identifying & apprehending the assailant, all within 48 hrs – always seeking justice for victims,” Shea tweeted.
Officials in New York City and beyond swiftly condemned the attack. They highlighted how it was another case in a growing number of incidents of anti-Asian hate and discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 3,795 incidents were reported to Stop AAPI Hate from March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2021, “only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that occur,” the advocacy group said. The organization tracks hate, violence, harassment and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S.
