Brandon Elliot sentenced after he was accused of NYC Times Square attack on Vilma Kari

Brandon Elliot has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison years after he was accused of an anti-Asian attack against Vilma Kari in NYC's Times Square, stomping on her head and body repeatedly.

A New York man has been sentenced almost three years after he was accused of violently attacking an Asian American woman in Times Square. 

Brandon Elliot, 41, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in state prison. He had pleaded guilty to one count of assault in the first degree as a hate crime, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

In 2021, Elliot attacked Vilma Kari, then 65 years old, when she was on her way to church. Elliot shouted expletives at Kari, telling her, “You don’t belong here,” before toppling her and stomping on her head and body repeatedly. 

Elliot’s attorney, Jamie Niskanen-Singer, said in a statement shared with NBC News that his client had "expressed remorse" for what Kari had gone through.

"Mr. Elliot has long suffered from serious and well-documented mental health diagnoses, which was a contributing factor but by no means a blanket excuse," Niskanen-Singer said in the statement. "He has accepted responsibility for his actions and sought to spare Ms. Kari of having to relive the ordeal at a trial."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/vilma-kari-times-square-attack-rcna139260

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