On March 29, 2021, Brandon Elliot brutally attacked Vilma Kari, a Filipino-American woman, as she was walking to church. Elliot singled Kari out as Asian, shouting, "You don't belong here." Elliot pleaded guilty to one count of Assault in the First Degree as a Hate Crime and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree.

On Wednesday, February 21, Judge Maxwell Wiley will sentence Elliot to a promised sentence of 15 years in state prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Vilma Kari will be making her Victim Impact Statement in open court.

AABANY, through its Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, has been organizing court watching events to gather AABANY members and community members to show support for victims and survivors of anti-Asian violence. Join AABANY to stand with the AAPI community and show the world that we will not tolerate hate or violence against any member of the AAPI community. Join us for the court watching of the sentencing of Brandon Elliot as we stand with Vilma Kari in her call for justice.

We have been informed that Vilma Kari's case will be called at around 2:30 pm.

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