Merritt Island woman charged with hate crime in NYC pepper spraying incident

Eric Rogers, Florida Today
·1 min read
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A Merritt Island woman in New York City was charged with a hate crime Friday after police said she assaulted a group of Asian American women with pepper spray this month.

Madeline Barker, 47, of Merritt Island, was arrested Friday in connection with the June 11 incident, in which she allegedly made anti-Asian remarks before pepper spraying a group of four women in Manhattan's meatpacking district, according to the New York Police Department.

The women declined medical attention at the scene, according to a police news release.

The incident was captured on a widely circulated bystander video, which attracted national media attention.

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Barker was charged with four counts of harassment as a hate crime, and two counts each of assault as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime, police said. Her first court appearance was Saturday, according to court records.

She was being held Sunday on $20,000 bail at the Rose M. Singer Center, a women's-only facility on Rikers Island, according to the NYC Department of Corrections.

A screen capture from a cell phone video allegedly showing Madeline Barker of Merritt Island shooting pepper spray at a group of Asian American women in New York. Barker was arrested in the incident and charged with a hate crime, New York police said.
A screen capture from a cell phone video allegedly showing Madeline Barker of Merritt Island shooting pepper spray at a group of Asian American women in New York. Barker was arrested in the incident and charged with a hate crime, New York police said.

Court records showed Barker has retained an attorney, who did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.

Barker's next court appearance is Thursday.

While estimates vary widely, multiple reports agree that hate crimes against Asian Americans have spiked in recent years.

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A report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found that reported anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021 had jumped 339% over the prior year in some major U.S. cities.

Madeline Barker of Merritt Island, shown in this screen capture from a video provided to NYPD, was arrested for assault as a hate crime after police said she made anti-Asian comments and pepper sprayed a group of women on June 11.
Madeline Barker of Merritt Island, shown in this screen capture from a video provided to NYPD, was arrested for assault as a hate crime after police said she made anti-Asian comments and pepper sprayed a group of women on June 11.

The FBI said last year reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans nationally rose nearly 77% in 2020.

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricRogersFT.

Please consider subscribing to FLORIDA TODAY for a limited time offer of $1 for 6 months of unlimited digital access to local news coverage.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard woman charged with hate crime in NYC pepper spraying incident