Frisco police address Indian community’s concern about hate crimes
By J.D. MILES
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FRISCO, Texas (KTVT) — One woman’s racist rant and assault on a group of women of Indian heritage still reverberates throughout Collin County’s large Asian community.
So much so that a Hindu temple hosted Frisco police for a meeting Wednesday night to address the Indian community’s concern about hate crimes.
Community leaders say that what happened two weeks ago in Plano still has many of them angry and wondering how to handle a similar situation, which led to this meeting.
It started with hateful words and ended with a physical confrontation. The video of a Plano realtor initiating a racist tirade against a group of four Indian women outside a restaurant has Viji Ponangi and others wondering how they should react.
“And then towards the end, she said that I’m going to shoot you,” said Frisco resident Ponangi. “And you’ve seen so many incidents of shootings going on and it’s so scary. And so you know, I have daughters who are like they’re adults now. So it is scary for them. So I don’t know whether they should confront such a person or just ignore it.”
Ponangi attended the safety meeting with Frisco police to address how they should respond if they find themselves victims of a hate crime.
“This particular incident, how long it was, how intense it was, definitely hit the heart of the community,” said Frisco resident Sunitha Cheruvu.
Video provided crucial evidence that led to the arrest of Esmeralda Upton for assault and possible hate crime charges from the incident on Aug. 24.
But police still insist that the best response to bullying or verbal abuse is to walk away, even if it means not getting video evidence of a crime.
“We file a lot of criminal offenses without any video,” said Frisco Police Chief David Shilson.
Police said their biggest challenge stopping hate crimes is getting people to report them.
On Wednesday night, police encouraged members of the community to call them about any incidents of verbal abuse or racial targeting, even if it doesn’t amount to a crime.
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