Plano Woman Arrested After Racist Parking lot Confrontation Goes Viral – As shown in a now-viral video, Rani Banerjee claimed she and three of her friends had just finished eating at Sixty Vines in Plano when they were approached by a woman in the parking lot. “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,” said Banerjee.
Banerjee began using her phone to record the scene. Esmeralda Upton, the lady who was identified by Plano police as the attacker, yelled racial slurs and began hitting Banerjee. The footage showed Upton yelling, “Go back to India, we don’t want you here.”
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“What was so very scary is she came very close and not only verbally assaulted us but started physically assaulting us. She started hitting me,” said Banerjee. In the video, Upton, a self-described Mexican-American, informed the group that she “hated Indians.” The group called 911 out of concern for their safety. Police in Plano arrived within minutes.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged for authorities to file charges against the lady and condemned the event. Executive director of CAIR-DFW Faizan Syed said, “The level of vitriol and alleged physical assault against four Indian-American women in Plano is truly appalling.” “We urge law enforcement to look into the incident as a possible hate crime because”this kind of hatred has no place in North Texas.”
Nahela Morales, a Mexican-American and board member of CAIR-DFW, expressed her outrage at the use of the name of her people to incite hatred. “As people of color, we need to stand together in solidarity to build bridges of love and understanding, not to bring each other down. To the women in the video, I want to say you don’t speak for our community or me; shame on you. I encourage you to learn about the shared culture between South Asians and Mexicans.”
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Threats of terrorism and assault with bodily injury were brought against Upton. She has a bond of $10,000. The Crime Against People Unit of the Plano Police Department is still looking into the event as a possible hate crime, and additional charges may be filed, according to Plano Police.
