Police say they are not investigating the incident of a white woman’s street attack on an elderly Korean woman in Los Angeles’ Koreatown Wednesday — afterward caught on camera saying the n-word and, reportedly, “Power is power” — as a hate crime.
The viral photo shows the 83-year-old grandmother (called halmoni in Korean) on the ground, clutching towels to her bleeding head next to a puddle of blood.
The incident was first seen via a Facebook post by Linda Lee (now private), in which Lee said the white woman attacked the grandmother and yelled “white power” before running off.
Jung Kim, an LAPD detective, told the Los Angeles Daily News Thursday that the attack seemed “random” and that the department is “not getting consistent statements saying this was hate motivated” after speaking to several witnesses.
Since then, a video has surfaced of the white woman — identified by the Los Angeles Times as 27-year-old Alexis Duvall — saying the n-word.
NBC Los Angeles has also acquired a CCTV video of the attack, which shows Duvall pushing the Korean woman to the ground.
Duvall was chased down by witnesses and arrested by the LAPD, which said she is homeless, may be “mentally ill” and currently being held for battery on a $50,000 bail, for inflicting a one-inch cheek cut and knee pain on the Korean woman.
@gasagasagirl @zhihuachen @arthur_affect via Linda Lee FB https://t.co/qWvtuv0av5 pic.twitter.com/Yb3Co3m3bx
— Naomi Hirahara (@gasagasagirl) February 2, 2017
The Korean woman has been discharged from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries.
After the photo went viral, Lee posted on her Facebook in criticism of President Donald Trump, though she did not mention him by name: “I posted this to voice my opinion about how our country is going through really difficult times. I’m not saying instances like this didn’t exist before he came into power. I’m saying that because of his rants and beliefs that he’s made public to our country, people feel empowered to express their anger, hatred, bigotry, etc. in inappropriate ways. You may disagree with me and that’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t change the fact that instances like this are on the rise after he came into power.”
