On Wednesday (August 24), a Mexican American woman assaulted a group of 4 Indians, following a racist rant in the parking lot of a business establishment in Plano in Dallas city of Texas.
As per reports, the accused was identified as Esmi Armendarez Upton. The video of the nasty confrontation had gone viral on social media, leading to her arrest on Thursday (August 25).
“I hate you f*cking Indians…You come to our country and want everything free. I am Mexican-American. I was born here. Were you born here? Everywhere I go, you fucking Indians are there,” Esmi was heard as saying.
A racist woman in Texas harasses a group of Indian people just for having accents.
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) August 25, 2022
This behavior is absolutely repulsive. pic.twitter.com/ZvX3mdQ6Wm
“If life was so great in India, why the f*ck are you here? Turn your camera off. I am happy to talk,” Esmi warned before proceeding to hit one of the Indian women in the face. The victims were returning home when the Mexican American woman confronted them in the parking lot, without any provocation
She also tried to pull out a gun from her purse and threatened to shoot the Indian group. In a longer version of the video, the woman was heard referring to the Indians as ‘curry ass bitches.’
While stating that her ethnicity is ‘Mexican’, she then assaulted another woman in the group. Esmi told the victims that she hates Indians because of their accents. She also claimed that Indians were migrating to the United States en masse to reap its benefits.
This racist attacking these innocent women is Esmi Upton of Plano, Texas. Full name: Esmeralda Armendarez-Upton, she is a realtor for California Federal Bank. She is a parishioner at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Plano, TX.
— Johnny Akzam (@JohnnyAkzam) August 25, 2022
She wants to be famous for all the wrong reasons. pic.twitter.com/psYfOQpNW0
After realising that the victims were calling the cops, Esmi turned ‘apologetic’ and claimed that she overstepped her boundaries. According to her Linkedin profile (which now stands deleted), the Mexican American woman is a realtor for California Federal Bank and parishioner at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Plano.
Victims share ordeal
The four Indian women were identified as Bidisha Rudra, Rani Banerjee, Sabori Saha and Anamika Chatterjee.
In her Facebook post, Bidisha said, “Four friends who were spending a nice evening in a free democratic country with rule of law were verbally abused using racial slurs and thereafter, threatened and body shamed by a complete stranger.”
She further added, “We feared for our lives because she was extremely agitated and seemed totally out of control. We called cops who came in time and diffused the situation.
Is this a way to live in a free civil society??????”
While recounting the ordeal, Rani Banerjee told WFAA, “Suddenly, we heard this woman yelling at us and started coming toward us. We were shocked by the racial slurs that she used and combative attitude.”
Arrest of the racist woman
After the video went viral on social media, netizens were quick to find her Facebook profile. The Plano police arrested Esmi on Thursday (August 25) for Assault bodily injury and terroristic threats. She is now held on a bound amount of $10,000.
ASSAULT ARREST
— Plano Police (Texas) (@PlanoPoliceDept) August 25, 2022
On Thursday, August 25, 2022, at approximately 3:50 p.m., Plano Police Detectives arrested Esmeralda Upton of Plano on one charge of Assault Bodily Injury and one for Terroristic Threats and is being held on a total bond amount of $10,000. A jail photo is attached. pic.twitter.com/cEj9RwWdt1
“This incident is currently under investigation by the Plano Police Department’s Crime Against Persons Unit as a hate crime. Additional charges may be forthcoming,” the police said in a statement.