A Texas woman was caught in a viral video going on a racist rant against a group of women, telling them to “go back to India” and threating and physically assaulting them.
The incident took place on Wednesday when three women were outside the Sixty Vines restaurant in Plano. It is being investigated as a hate crime, according to police.
Esmeralda Upton, a resident of Plano, was arrested after the incident on Thursday based on witness statements. She was charged with assault bodily injury and terroristic threats.
Ms Upton can be heard in the video hurling expletives and abusing the women for being Indians.
“Why did you walk up to talk to us?” one of the women can be heard asking Ms Upton, who interrupts her and says, “Because I hate you f****** Indians. That’s why. All these f****** Indians, they come to America because they want a better life.”
Ms Upton can also be seen saying that though she is Mexican, she was born in the US and demanded to know if the women were born in the country or not.
When one of the women asks “what makes you think we’re not Americans?”, Ms Upton replies back saying, “Because of the way you speak.”
The Plano resident was also heard saying “f****** Indians” were everywhere.
The viral video also shows Ms Upton launching an attack and hitting one of the women while being filmed.
“Upon officers arrival, several women advised that they had been assaulted by another woman at the location,” said a statement from the Plano police department.
“Based on witness statements, the officer completed an offense report for Assault Bodily Injury (a Class A Misdemeanor) and Terroristic Threats (a Class B Misdemeanor),” it added.
Ms Upton’s bond has been set at $10,000.
The victims said though Ms Upton has been arrested, the incident has left them hurt.
“I feel extremely humiliated that could have happened in a place like this,” Bidisha Rudra, one of the women subject to the racist attack, was quoted as saying to CBS News.
“She just said ‘go back where you came from’ and she used some harsh [language] and then she walks right up to us,” Ms Rudra said.
One of the other victims, Rani Banerjee, said her first impulse was to start recording.
“..and the first thing I did was I started recording and then the other friend called 911,” Ms Banerjee said.
“It just... it hurts you right. It hurts you real bad,” she explained.
“We definitely want to see justice served,” Ms Banerjee said. “We just want to make sure she has the right consequences.”
