Man, 38, on lifetime parole for stabbing his mother to death in 2002 is charged with beating up Filipina, 65, on her way to church in NYC - as she remains in hospital with broken pelvis
The man who viciously assaulted a 65-year-old Filipina woman by kicking her head in a savage attack in New York has been arrested, police said.
Brandon Elliot, 38, was detained by NYPD cops at 2am on Wednesday after CCTV footage of the horrific beating drew widespread condemnation and sparked a police manhunt.
Elliot is currently on lifetime parole after murdering his own mother in 2002 and was released from prison in 2019, according to NBC New York.
He lives in a Manhattan hotel serving as a homeless shelter near where Monday's attack took place and has been charged with felony assault as a hate crime.
The victim was on her way to church in Midtown when she was pushed to the ground and kicked in the head.
She had been walking towards the suspect in the moments before he attacked her when he reportedly told her: 'F*** you, you don't belong here.'
The damning footage also shows two security guards watch the attack unfold and fail to intervene.
The pair have been suspended from work, the Brodsky Organization, the management company for the building, announced on Tuesday.
NYPD officers had blanketed Manhattan with wanted posters and offered a $2,500 reward for any information on the suspect.
Public officials in New York City expressed horror and shock after surveillance footage emerged on Tuesday showing a 65-year-old Asian woman being stomped on by an assailant during a random attack in Manhattan on Monday
The suspect was also caught clearly on surveillance camera as he walked away from the scene
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and mayoral candidate Andrew Yang expressed anger on Tuesday that nobody tried to stop the assault.
'Like so many other people, I woke up to a horrifying video of an Asian woman being horribly beaten for no other reason than her race,' Yang, who is currently considered the favorite to succeed de Blasio, told reporters in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
'An elderly Asian woman walking the streets of Hell's Kitchen could easily have been my mother, because that's where we live.
'And so when I saw this video, that is who I thought of.'
Yang's comments were reported by the New York Post. The former candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for president is vying to be the first-ever mayor of Asian descent to take over City Hall.
The mayor, de Blasio, called the video 'absolutely disgusting and outrageous' and said it was 'absolutely unacceptable' that witnesses did not intervene.
A police officer hangs a sign offering a reward for information on the suspect on Tuesday
New footage emerged on Tuesday of the moment an Asian woman was knocked to the ground and viciously beaten on her way to church in Manhattan
The video - from a previously unseen angle - shows as the victim, 65, is pushed to floor and kicked in the head by an unidentified passer-by during the vicious daylight attack
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (seen left in Queens on Saturday) and frontrunning mayoral hopeful Andrew Yang (seen right in Brooklyn on Tuesday) condemned the attack and the failure of witnesses nearby to intervene and help the victim
'I don't care who you are, I don't care what you do, you've got to help your fellow New Yorker,' de Blasio said Tuesday at his daily news briefing.
'If you see someone being attacked, do whatever you can. Make noise. Call out what's happening. Go and try and help. Immediately call for help. Call 911.
'This is something where we all have to be part of the solution. We can't just stand back and watch a heinous act happening.'
In a statement Tuesday the Brodsky Organization - the management company for the building - said: 'The staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union.
'The Brodsky Organization is also working to identify a third-party delivery vendor present during the incident so that appropriate action can be taken.'
They added that they 'condemn all forms of discrimination, racism, xenophobia and violence against the Asian-American community.'
The attack comes amid a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes. The NYPD says there have been 33 hate crimes with an Asian victim so far this year.
The 65-year-old woman was attacked randomly on Monday just before midday
In the original footage, one of the men working in the building appeared to be busy opening up packages while the attack was ongoing.
At one point, a second security guard could be seen closing the front door to the premises where the pair were working, completely ignoring the woman who had just been the victim of a savage assault.
Neither decided to chase after the suspect who was still being hunted by police with a reward offered for information.
The suspect allegedly hurled anti-Asian statements as he punched and kicked the 65-year-old woman on West 43rd Street near Ninth Avenue just before midday, according to the NYPD.
Protesters pictured outside 360 West 43rd Street in Manhattan on Tuesday
Police are hunting the suspect in the shocking video. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called Monday's attack 'disgusting'
The NYPD offered a $2,500 reward for information that would lead to an arrest
The woman was taken to NYU Langone Hospital in stable condition having suffered a fractured pelvis.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called Monday's attack 'disgusting.'
'I don't know who attacks a 65-year-old woman and leaves her on the street like that,' Shea said Tuesday on TV station NY1.
Shea recently said the agency would increase its outreach and patrols in predominantly Asian communities.
According to a report from Stop AAPI Hate over 3,795 incidents were reported to the organization from March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2021. The organization said that number is 'only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur.'
Protesters pictured outside 360 West 43rd Street in Manhattan on Tuesday
Shea recently said the agency would increase its outreach and patrols in predominantly Asian communities. According to a report from Stop AAPI Hate over 3,795 incidents were reported to the organization from March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2021. The organization said that number is 'only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur'
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