A 70-year-old Mexican American grandmother was severely beaten last Friday afternoon (April 9) in Los Angeles by an assailant who thought she was Asian.
The elderly woman, identified as Becky, was traveling on a metro bus to a nearby supermarket to go shopping for her granddaughter, this according to the woman’s son, Pete.
According to the community newspaper The Eastsider, another bus passenger, described as a Black woman between 25 to 30, began yelling anti-Asian racial slurs at her. The woman then assaulted Becky. She broke her nose and gave her a concussion. At one point in the assault, she dragged the elderly woman from the back of the bus to the front.
“Nobody would help,” Pete said. “Not even the bus driver.”
The suspect was eventually arrested on another bus when someone called the police. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that the woman who assaulted Becky was in custody.
Becky spent 24 hours in the hospital and was then released. Besides the injuries to her face, Pete says his mother, who also has lupus, arthritis and other disabilities, is suffering from a badly bruised leg that is making it difficult for her to walk.
Hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has increased over the last year. According to a study from Stop AAPI Hate, there were nearly 3,800 anti-Asian incidents reported since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these incidents, 68 percent of the victims were women.