Anti-Asian assault: Woman charged with hate crimes after allegedly attacking 4 people with pepper-spray and making anti-Asian remarks in Manhattan, police say
Madeline Barker, 47, was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime, two counts of attempted assault as a hate crime and four counts of harassment as a hate crime, the New York Police Department said.
CNN was not immediately able to identify an attorney for Barker, who is from Merritt Island, Florida, according to the NYPD. CNN reached out to the Legal Aid Society to determine whether it’s representing her.
The attack, which was investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force, happened June 11 in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and was partially caught on video.
At some point during the altercation, not captured in the video that the NYPD released, an unidentified Asian man passed the group on the sidewalk, NYPD Sergeant Anwar Ishmael told CNN. The woman allegedly turned to him and said, “You take all your b***hes back to where you came from,” Ishmael said.
Ultimately, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will determine what charges Barker will face.
Hate crimes, including those against Asians in the US, have seen a sharp increase in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic sparked attacks against Asians amid online and political rhetoric stigmatizing them, but this category of hate crime is often underreported.
And despite the concerning increase in such crimes, a small percentage of reported attacks against Asians end up in convictions.
CNN’s Liam Reilly and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
