Apr 21, 2023 - Politics & Policy

Indiana woman charged with hate crime for attack on Asian student

Mark Robinson

The Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana is seen on Oct. 27, 2019. Photo: Marlena Sloss for the Washington Post via Getty Images

A federal grand jury has indicted an Indiana woman on a hate crime charge after she allegedly stabbed a college student of Chinese descent in January, the Department of Justice announced.

Driving the news: Billie R. Davis, 56 of Bloomington, is accused of carrying out the "racially motivated" attack “because of the victim’s race and national origin,” per the DOJ.

Catch up quick: Davis allegedly stabbed an 18-year-old Indiana University student multiple times in the head while the student was waiting for bus doors to open.

Footage that captured the attack showed that Davis and the victim had no interaction prior to the stabbing, police said at the time.
Davis then told police she had targeted the student because of their ethnicity, according to court documents filed after her arrest.
In addition to the federal hate crime charge, Davis was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, and battery by means of a deadly weapon shortly after the incident.

The big picture: The attack happened amid a rising number of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents across the U.S.

Stop AAPI Hate documented more than 11,400 anti-AAPI hate incidents in a two-year period between March 2020 and March 2022.

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Indiana woman charged with hate crime for attack on Asian student

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