By Hojun Choi
https://www.dallasnews.com
A woman whose racism-fueled tirade against four Indian American women in Plano was caught on video pleaded guilty last week to charges related to the incident, court records show.
About 8:15 p.m. Aug. 24, 2022, officers were dispatched to a “disturbance” at a parking lot near the intersection of Dallas Parkway and West Parker Road, according to Plano police. Several women reported that they were assaulted by another woman, later identified as Esmeralda Upton, 59, police said.
Upton was arrested the following afternoon on multiple charges, according to police. In video recordings of the incident, which was shared widely on social media, Upton could be heard yelling racist comments at the four women, all of whom who are of South Asian descent, according to authorities.
Upton on Friday pleaded guilty to one charge of assault by contact/threat and two charges of assault causing bodily injury, according to the Collin County website. She also pleaded guilty to one charge of making a terroristic threat, the website showed.
Under Texas law, hate crime findings can enhance criminal punishments if the defendant is found guilty.
According to the Collin County district attorney’s office, each of Upton’s charges included the state’s hate crime enhancement.
Upton was sentenced to 40 days in jail, and will be allowed to serve her time on weekends, according to the district attorney’s office. As part of her plea deal, Upton surrendered her concealed handgun license and will not be allowed to own a firearm for the next two years.
An email request to the attorney listed as Upton’s lawyer in court records was not immediately returned. The Dallas Morning News also left a message with someone who answered a phone number for the attorney’s law firm.
In a written statement Monday, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis thanked the office of U.S. Attorney Damien Diggs, Plano police and the FBI Dallas Field Office for their work on the case.
“As Americans, we should all be able to enjoy our Constitutional liberties, free and secure from this type of racially motivated assault. Indeed, America is the only nation on earth defined more by its ideals than by race or ethnicity,” Willis wrote.
The Chandra Law Firm is representing Anamika Chatterjee, one of the women attacked, in a civil lawsuit against Upton and shared a statement on its website along with video recordings of the incident.
Upton did not apologize in court to the victims of the August 2022 attack, according to the statement.
“[The sentencing] is just one step,” Subodh Chandra, Chatterjee’s lead attorney, told The News. “The fact that Upton is neither contrite nor apologetic, speaks volumes about the need for further accountability.”
In the videos shared by the Ohio-based law firm,a woman identified by the law firm as Upton can be seen speaking in a loud voice with at least three other women who are recording her on their phones.
Upton can be heard saying, “Everywhere I [expletive] go, you Indians are [expletive] everywhere” and “I hate you [expletive] Indians.”
In one of the recordings, Upton can be seen holding a phone with one hand and appears to be reaching into her bag with the other and saying, “You better turn that [expletive] phone off, or I swear to God, I’ll [expletive] shoot your ass,” while walking toward the woman recording the encounter.
In a prepared statement before Upton’s sentencing, Chatterjee said the attack “will forever haunt” her and her family, she said.
“To be attacked for my race and appearance is very hard to get past. I have now lived in the United States for 25 years. This is where my children were born,” the statement read.
“I hope that you didn’t just plead guilty to these crimes to avoid more serious consequences — that you finally take full accountability for your actions, stop making false denials as you’ve been doing and acting as if we were somehow responsible for what you did to us,” Chatterjee continued in a latter part of her statement. “I hope that you never discriminate against, spew hateful words against, threaten, intimidate, or attack any other person.”
In a written statement Monday, Chanda Parbhoo, founder of SAAVETX, a North Texas-based organization that advocates for South Asian American votership, also thanked the district attorney’s office for their work on the case.
“Acts of racism and violence have no place in our society, and this decision sends a clear message that such behavior will not be tolerated,” Parbhoo added. “We stand in solidarity with all communities to create a more inclusive and respectful state.”
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
