A woman has been arrested by Las Vegas police on hate crime, bias, and battery charges after allegedly punching a six-year-old Asian American boy and yelling racist abuse at his family.
The Clark County Detention Center told that Shelly Hill is in custody after being detained on Saturday.
Woman charged with hate crime after allegedly punching 6-year-old Asian boy in Las Vegas
Following the woman’s violent attack on the boy, the boy’s mother followed her into the mall to film her ongoing tirade.
The video, which was originally posted on TikTok, then appeared on Twitter, where it went viral.
People who saw the video, which showed the woman shouting unintelligible things about “China” before turning around and being escorted away by mall security, expressed pure outrage.
Others excused the woman’s behavior citing mental health issues or chemical dependency.
However, disability rights advocates point out that while mental illness and substance abuse can lower inhibitions, neither transforms people into racists.
Racism should not be blamed on mental illness or addiction, as it stigmatizes people diagnosed with either and excuses the perpetrator’s racist beliefs.
The family, the boy, his mother and sister, called the police and waited with supportive sales representatives until the police arrived.
The suspect, identified as Shelly Hill, has been charged with assault and hate crime. She is being held on $3,000 bail and is due to appear in court this Sunday.
The boy’s mother told her that she expects it will take a while for the whole family to put what happened behind them.
