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Last week's assault on a public transport bus and the suspect,
56-year-old Billie Davis, were reported to authorities by a
witness on the bus, police have said. Media, citing court
documents, have said she was stabbed because she was Asian.
"This week, Bloomington was sadly reminded that anti-Asian hate
is real," James Wimbush, the university's vice president for
diversity, said in a statement on Friday.
"No one should face harassment or violence due to their
background, ethnicity, or heritage."
Reuters could not immediately reach an attorney for the suspect,
who is being held in the Monroe County jail, court records show.
The victim told police she was waiting for the bus doors to open
when another passenger began hitting her in the head, law
enforcement officials said in a statement. Taken to hospital,
she was found to have suffered stab wounds to the head.
Video from inside the bus showed the victim and her alleged
attacker had no interaction before the stabbing. Authorities did
not release the student's name.
Bloomington, a southern Indiana town of 80,000 people, deplores
"any form of racism and discrimination", its mayor, John
Hamilton, said in a statement on Saturday that expressed
solidarity with the Asian community.
Local ABC affiliate WRTV said the suspect told police she
stabbed the woman because it "would be one less person to blow
up our country."
Harassment and violence targeting Asian communities have spiked
in the United States in recent years and in the wake of the
coronavirus pandemic.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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