In a horrific incident, four Indian women were reportedly racially abused and physically assaulted by a Mexican-American woman in Dallas in the US state of Texas. Cellphone footage of the incident has gone viral and the Plano Police have said in an official statement that they are treating it as a hate crime.
Videos of the incident, which took place on Wednesday night in a parking lot in Dallas, show a woman, who identifies herself as Mexican-American, verbally and physically assaulting a group of Indian-origin women.
"I hate you Indians. All these Indians come to America because they want a better life," she is seen saying in the video. "You Indians are everywhere," she added, and also hurled abuses at the four Indian-American women.
The woman, identified as Esmeralda Upton, was arrested by Plano Police detectives yesterday afternoon. She has been charged with assault, bodily injury and terroristic threats and is being held on a total bond amount of USD 10,000.
This incident is currently under investigation by the Plano Police Department's Crime Against Persons Unit as a hate crime, an official statement read.
The video has now gone viral across social media with over 3 million views and has sent shock waves among the Indian-American community across the United States.
Groups in North Texas with ties to the South Asian American community condemned the attack and said they were relieved that a suspect had been arrested.
The video showed Upton using racial slurs, and at one point physically attacking at least two of the Indian women.
The person who posted this video wrote, "this incident occurred in Dallas, Texas after my mom and her three friends went to dinner".
One of the Indian women can be heard contesting the arguments made by Upton while remaining calm. She is seen requesting the attacker not to make racial slurs.
Another person who posted the video on Twitter, identifies Upton as well. "This racist attacking these innocent women is Esmi Upton of Plano, Texas. Full name: Esmeralda Armendarez-Upton, she is a realtor for California Federal Bank. She is a parishioner at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Plano, TX. She wants to be famous for all the wrong reasons," he tweeted.
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