Texas’s PLANO — Following a racist outburst and assault on ladies of South Asian ancestry that was caught on camera in a parking lot in a suburban Dallas neighbourhood, a woman has been arrested and could be charged with a hate crime, according to authorities.
Esmeralda Upton, 58, of Plano, was detained and charged with misdemeanour assault and making a terroristic threat, according to Plano police. She was being held in the local jail on a $10,000 bond on Thursday.
According to the statement, a hate crime investigation is also being done into the event. For Upton, the jail had no listed attorney.
The incident took place outside a restaurant in Plano on Wednesday shortly after 8 p.m. Upton was seen in a widely shared video being aggressive toward the women of Indian heritage, launching into a profanity-laced rant against them, questioning their right to be in the country, threatening to shoot them, and physically striking the woman who was filming the incident.
The footage didn’t make it apparent what, if anything, started the rage and assault.
