NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Two doormen have been fired for failing to intervene when an Asian American woman was attacked outside a Midtown building late last month.
On March 29, a 65-year-old Asian-American woman was walking to church when she was brutally assaulted in broad daylight outside a building on West 43rd Street.
Surveillance footage released by the NYPD showed the assailant kick the victim in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. He then punched and stomped on her face while making anti-Asian statements before walking away.
The attack sparked outrage when surveillance footage from inside the building showed staffers witnessing the attack and failing to intervene.
The video showed one man in the lobby watching the beating before two more men walk into the frame to join him. One is then seen closing the building’s front door as the woman lays injured on the sidewalk.
Extended footage later released to the New York Daily News revealed the building employees came outside to assist the victim after the suspect had left the scene.
The property manager, Brodsky Organization, initially suspended the staffers pending an investigation.
The group sent a letter to residents on Tuesday saying that two doormen have been fired.
"The Brodsky Organization completed an inquiry into the response of the two doormen who were present inside the building at the time of this incident. While the full lobby video shows that once the assailant had departed, the doormen emerged to assist the victim and flag down an NYPD vehicle, it is clear that required emergency and safety protocols were not followed. For this reason, their employment has been terminated, effective immediately," wrote Rick Mason, Executive Director of Management. "Our company is committed to implementing a comprehensive retraining of building service staff companywide regarding proper emergency response protocols as well as anti-bias awareness and upstander-bystander interventions."
Police arrested and charged the 38-year-old suspect, Brandon Elliot, with attempted assault as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Elliot is a convicted murderer who killed his mother and was imprisoned for 17 years before being released on lifetime parole in 2019.
He had been living in a homeless shelter near the scene of the attack.
If convicted, Elliot faces up to 25 years in prison, as well as other consequences related to his lifetime parole.
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