A woman filmed pepper spraying four Asian women in a racially motivated attack in Manhattan last week has been tracked down and arrested by police after video of the incident went viral.
The suspect, 47-year-old Madeline Barker, was caught on camera during the June 10 altercation hurling racial slurs at victims such as “go back where you came from” and you don’t belong here”.
The incident, which took place in a public square in the Meatpacking District, subsequently sparked a search for the then-unknown woman, dubbed “Karen” by netizens.
Police are now announcing that the woman, who wore a bright pink pashmina and Jacqueline Onassis-style sunglasses during her tirade, is in custody.
Barker, a Florida native, is now facing hate crime charges for the assault and was due to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court Saturday on charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime and harassment as a hate crime.
The incident in which one victim “was unable to open her eyes” comes amid a spate of anti-Asian violence in City That Never Sleeps.
The suspect, 47-year-old Madeline Barker, was caught on camera during the June 10 altercation hurling racial slurs at victims such as “go back where you came from” and you don’t belong here”. The footage subsequently went viral and led to police arresting Barker
![Although the victims attempted to walk away, Barker, who is charged with hate crimes, pursued the victims and sprayed pepper in their faces, footage shows. One victim said she could not open [her] eyes' after the attack](https://www.spamchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/1655236391_486_Karen-Pepper-spray-sprays-four-Asian-women-in-NYC-during-a.jpg "Florida woman filmed pepper spraying four Asian women in New York has been arrested 3")
Although the victims attempted to walk away, Barker, who is charged with hate crimes, pursued the victims and sprayed pepper in their faces, footage shows. One victim said she could not open [her] eyes’ after the attack
Police have been on the hunt for the suspect and are investigating the case as a hate crime after footage went viral last week
Shocking video captured by the victims shows the moment the woman, dubbed “Karen” by social media users, walked with the four Queens women, all in the Twenties, starts arguing.
The victims, who asked to remain anonymous, told ABC 7 they were checking a flower installation when the woman suddenly started an argument with them, and after accusing them of molesting them, the Karen pepper sprayed the four .
“It was so painful,” said one victim. “I couldn’t open my eyes for about 30 minutes.”
A bystander then filmed the victims walking away from the argument, but Karen kept yelling at her and walked up behind one of the women and shot her directly in the eye with the pepper spray before leaving the area.
It’s the latest anti-Asian crime in New York City, where hate crimes have skyrocketed, up 343 percent against Asians last year
Police said the incident is currently being investigated and is being treated as a hate crime.
According to the victims, Barker launched a racist tirade when she pulled the pepper spray on the Asian women.
‘[She was] to say, “Go back to where you came from, you don’t belong here,” recalled one victim on ABC 7.
“She pointed to an Asian viewer who was a man, we didn’t know who he was, pointed to him and said, ‘Take your dick back to your country.'”
The victims claimed that one of them received a message after the attack from someone else who allegedly encountered the same women earlier in the day, saying the Karen pepper sprayed three others, including a 13-year-old girl.
“To learn that she did this to other people, including a minor, is not okay,” said one of the victims. “She must be caught.”
Another victim said it was the first time either of them had been physically victims of a hate crime, despite having heard racist remarks when they were young.
Hate crimes are on the rise in the Big Apple and nationwide, with the NYPD reporting that hate crimes rose 96 percent in 2021, with 133 Asian Americans having frightening and dangerous experiences of discrimination in the city.
Hate crimes are currently up 31.1 percent from the same point last year, with one of the most recent attacks taking place in April when a Chinese food delivery man was gunned down.
Zhiwen Yan, 45, (right) in this undated picture on his wedding day was making a delivery on his scooter in the Queens borough of Forest Hills around 9:30pm on April 30 when he was fatally shot in the chest
Supporters of Yan, who was allegedly killed by Glenn Hirsch, 51, staged a demonstration outside the Queens Supreme Court to protest the suspect’s release without bail
Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested in March and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated molestation and harassment
This map shows the times and locations of attacks allegedly carried out by Zajonc on February 27 against seven Asian women
The NYPD’s own numbers show how hate crime has exploded during the pandemic
Zhiwen Yan, 45, was shot dead in Queens during an argument “over duck sauce” when police arrested Glenn Hirsch, 51, a man obsessed with the condiment.
Hirsch has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held without bail, much to the outrage of the Asian community as local residents protested the decision, calling the father-of-three’s murder a hate crime.
In March, police arrested Steven Zajonc, 28, of Florida, who barricaded himself inside the New York Public Library after allegedly assaulting seven Asian women in a two-hour rampage across Manhattan.
Earlier this year, the city was shocked by the murder of Michelle Go, 40, who was pushed to death on the Times Square subway platform.
The surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans has been attributed to the pandemic due to COVID-19 originating in China, while former President Donald Trump has dubbed the coronavirus “kung flu” or “China virus.”
The attacks come amid an ongoing rise in violent crime across the city as crimes have been silenced by 19.5 percent so far this year compared to the same period last year, with the NYPD reporting 10,929 cases as of Wednesday.
Overall crime in the Big Apple is up nearly 40 percent, and assault is up nearly 20 percent
Robberies have seen the most dramatic increase, with 7,187 cases reported so far this year – up 40.3 percent from the same time last year. Rape has also skyrocketed by a whopping 16.9 percent.
Although homicides and shooting victims have fallen by 11.5 and 8.1 percent, respectively, overall crime in the city has increased by 38.35 percent.
Transit crime has also increased by a shocking 53 percent.
Public transport has become so daunting for residents that 85 per cent are supporting more transit cops at stations – something Mayor Eric Adams, 61, has promised to address but has failed to see through.
In addition, according to the SCRI, 63 percent support metal detectors in train stations.