Man charged with hate crime in brutal attack on 65-year-old Asian woman is being held without bail

• A man has been charged with a hate crime in the attack on an elderly Asian woman captured on video.
• He was arraigned late Wednesday and ordered held without bail, according to The New York Post.
• The suspect was released on parole in 2019 after killing his mother nearly two decades ago.

The man charged with a hate crime in a brutal assault on an Asian woman Monday in Manhattan was arraigned Wednesday night and ordered held without bail, according to The New York Post.

Brandon Elliot, 38, was arrested and charged with felony assault as a hate crime shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, a New York Police Department spokesperson said.

Disturbing security footage of the attack shows a man who police believe is Elliot kicking an elderly Asian woman to the ground and repeatedly stomping her on the head. He was heard yelling, "F*** you, you don't belong here, you Asian," prosecutors said.

Elliot, who is being represented by a public defender, largely remained silent during the brief arraignment via video conference, according to the Post. He's due back in court on April 5.

The suspect was out on parole for killing his mother

Elliot was out on parole for killing his mother nearly two decades ago. He stabbed his mother with a knife three times at their Bronx home in April 2002, according to a New York Daily News article published at the time.

He was released on parole in 2019, New York Department of Corrections records show. The parole location was just three blocks - around a five-minute walk - from the site of the attack on the Asian woman. Elliot most recently reported to his parole officer on March 25 and typically complied with the rules of his parole, a corrections department representative told Insider.

Elliot was living in a midtown Manhattan hotel that was converted into a homeless shelter, where he was apprehended, police said. Elliot was also previously arrested on a robbery charge in 2000, according to police.

He faces up to 25 years in prison, in addition to other consequences due to violating parole, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said at a press conference Wednesday.

Filipino American victim identified

The victim's daughter identified her in an interview with the New York Times as Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old woman who emigrated to New York from the Philippines. Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Phillippines' ambassador to the US, identified her as Filipino American.

"Attacks against Asian-American New Yorkers are attacks against all New Yorkers, and my Office will continue to stand against hate in all its forms," Vance said in the press conference.

Kari was hospitalized following the attack and was in stable condition, an NYPD spokesperson previously told Insider.

The violent attack came amid a wave of reports of anti-Asian violence in the United States. Earlier in March, a gunman shot and killed eight people in Georgia, including six Asian women.

Outrage at building staff who appeared to do nothing to help

The attack took place outside an apartment building in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Security footage released by police appears to show building staff watch as the assault took place before one of them closed the door. Their seeming failure to intervene sparked widespread outrage.

The Brodsky Organization, which manages the building, said staff who witnessed the attack were suspended pending an investigation by their union.

SEIU 32BJ union president Kyle Braggs said Tuesday that door staff members "called for help immediately" and urged the public "to avoid a rush to judgment."

A group identifying as residents and tenants of the building published an open letter Wednesday morning defending the building staff. The group said the security footage was cut for the purposes of identifying the attacker but was cut "to inadvertently exclude the compassionate action taken" by building staff.

"It is very apparent to us that the doorman who acted to secure our building by closing the front door, did not have line of sight at the time of the attack and was merely reacting to the aftermath of a physical altercation," the letter says.

The letter also says that staff acted swiftly to help the victim and cooperate with law enforcement officers.

NYPD Detective Michael Rodriguez contradicted that account at a press conference Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

He said police didn't receive any 911 calls, and that officers driving in the area found the victim after she was assaulted.