Who is Madeline Barker? Florida woman, 47, charged with hate crime for pepper spraying Asian women
A Florida woman accused of pepper-spraying four people and making anti-Asian remarks in New York City earlier this month has been charged with hate crimes. 47-year-old Madeline Barker was arraigned in court Saturday, June 18, and was formally charged with attempted assault as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime, and harassment as a hate crime, court records show. She was being held at Rikers Island on $20,000 bail after being arraigned.
On June 11, Barker pepper sprayed four Asian women during a verbal altercation. She also made anti-Asian remarks at the intersection of 14th Street and Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. "Go back where you came from! Go back to your country!" Barker told the women.
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Local activists and civic leaders have said that Baker should be made an example of and needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The activists said that other steps should also be taken to ensure such incidents do not take place again.
“Any and all charges against Madeline Barker are welcomed, but in my opinion more needs to be done,” said Brian Chin of the Alliance for Community Preservation and Betterment, as reported by New York Post. “In order for people to start feeling safe again and for tourists to want to come back to our city, a strong and clear message must be sent. If you randomly and maliciously attack someone because of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes or because they are speaking a foreign language, the full extent of the law will crack down upon you.”
Who is Madeline Barker?
Not much is known about Who is Madeline Barker except that she lives on Merritt Island in Florida. She is due back in court on Thursday, June 23. According to Barker, she attacked the women only after they started “harassing her” June 11.
The five boroughs have seen several anti-Asian attacks since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic. “These attackers need to be held accountable for their dangerous behavior,” ACPB President Susan Lee, a former city council candidate, told New York Post.
According to Jacky Wong of the Greater Chinatown Civic Association, more needs to be done by the city to stop such incidents. Wong said Barker’s bust is “just the tip of an iceberg." “Many anti-violence are under-recorded and under-reported because law enforcement and elected officials are not taking them seriously enough,” Wong said. “With the anti-Asian crimes still trending in New York City, many Chinatown seniors [would] rather go hungry than go shopping because they don’t want to get harassed."
“Asian women are taking defensive classes. Parents worry about their children being targeted in playgrounds because of their race,” Wong added. “[Yet] we have not seen any effective solution to the anti-Asian violence from the government.”