A woman from Texas has been convicted of hate crimes against four Indian American women in connection to a 2022 incident, which was caught on camera and triggered outrage on social media.
The incident took place in the parking lot of the Sixty Vines Restaurant in Plano. Footage taken by one of the victims showed Esmerelda Upton, 59, verbally abusing three women of Indian origin. The video was later posted on Facebook.
At one point Upton could be heard telling the women, “We don’t want you here.” “If things were so great in your country, then stay there,” she added. Upton could also be seen lunging at the women, knocking away the phone that was recording the altercation.
When one of the victims explained that she was a naturalized citizen, Upton responded by saying, “You’re a naturalized citizen. You’re not a born and raised citizen.” ”All these Indians, come to America for a better life. You come to our country and want everything for free. I am a Mexican-American and I was born here.”
She continued to make racist comments even after police arrived and apprehended her.
Upton, who pleaded guilty to the four charges, was sentenced to two years of community supervision probation and 40 days’ confinement in Collin County Jail for each of the cases.
The incarceration will be served concurrently, and Upton was assessed a fine of $500 in each case, according to a statement issued by the office of District Attorney Greg Willis. “Upton intentionally selected the victim because of Upton’s bias and prejudice against the victim’s race and national origin,” the DA’s office noted.
One more civil suit filed by the victims against Upton is pending, according to reports.
“As Americans, we should all be able to enjoy our Constitutional liberties, free and secure from this type of racially motivated assault. Indeed, America is the only nation on earth defined more by its ideals than by race or ethnicity,” Willis stated.
One of the victims, Anamika Chatterjee, claimed the incident had a deep impact on her and her family. “My American-born children look like Indians. Because of your hatred and attack, I am now constantly scared for them,” she was quoted by NBC News as saying. “It continues to astonish me that a person with a minority background like yourself – which you bragged about during the incident – would behave like this, without a trace of shame.”
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