Stabbing of college student latest example of hate crime on rise in U.S.: report

The screenshot taken from CNN's website shows its latest report about the unprovoked attack allegedly motivated by race on Jan. 11, 2023 in Bloomington, Indiana, the United States. (Xinhua)

City and university officials have condemned the attack, which comes amid a rising tide of reported harassment and attacks against Asian Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The suspect in an unprovoked attack allegedly said she was motivated by race when she repeatedly stabbed the victim, a student of Asian descent at Indiana University, last week on a city bus, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing court documents and a student group.

In what appears to be the latest example of a swell in anti-Asian discrimination in the United States, Billie Davis, 56, who is White, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon in the Jan. 11 attack in Bloomington, Indiana, court records showed.

Davis and the victim had been riding separately on the bus, and when the victim tried to exit, Davis got up from her nearby seat and allegedly stabbed the victim in the head with a folding knife, leaving puncture wounds, said a probable cause affidavit.

City and university officials have condemned the attack, which comes amid a rising tide of reported harassment and attacks against Asian Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic, said the report.

In the first quarter of 2021 alone, reported hate crimes against Asians in 16 of the nation's largest cities and counties rose 164 percent over the prior year, according to a study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.