Woman arrested in Plano after video of assault, racist slurs goes viral on social media
Authorities in Plano have arrested a woman they said assaulted other women and insulted them with racial slurs, according to a news release from police.
Esmeralda Upton, of Plano, has been arrested on a charge of assault causing bodily injury and a charge of terroristic threats. She’s being held on $10,000 bond.
Video from Wednesday night showed a woman, who police have identified as Upton, shouting racial slurs at a group of Indian-American women outside Thirty Vines in Plano. After the woman in the video hits one of the victims and appears to attempt to take the phone she was using to record, the victims called police.
The video went viral on social media overnight and led to calls for an arrest. In it, the women police identified as Upton tells the victims to “go back to India,” says they are ruining America and screams racist epithets and profanity.
One of the Indian-American women, Rani Banerjee, said in the caption to video she posted on Facebook that she has lived in Dallas-Fort Worth for nearly 30 years.
“Never have I felt so humiliated, threatened, and scared for my life,” Banerjee wrote in her post. “Can’t believe this is what America has become.”
Police arrested Upton on Thursday around 4 p.m., according to the news release. They are investigating the assault and threats as a hate crime and said additional charges may be announced later.
House District 92 Democratic nominee Salman Bhojani condemned in a statement the attack and racist slurs.
“Targeted attacks against individuals for their race, ethnicity, faith, or immigration status have no place in our community,” Bhojani said in the statement. “Despite this occurring in our own backyard, these actions do not represent the values of our community, our state, or our nation. ... The District Attorney should hold the aggressor fully responsible for their actions.”
CAIR, an Islamic charity organization, also condemned the assault.
“The level of vitriol and alleged physical assault against four Indian-American women in Plano is truly appalling,” CAIR-DFW Executive Director Faizan Syed said in a news release Thursday. “This type of hate has no place in North Texas, and we call on law enforcement to investigate this incident as a hate crime.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 5:45 PM.