Indiana University student bus stabbing sparks fear in Asian community

Last week, an 18-year-old Indiana University student was stabbed multiple times in the head while riding a local bus in Bloomington, Indiana.

The suspect told police that he stabbed the victim because “it would be one less person to blow up our country,” according to WRTV, which said the victim was of Asian descent.

Indiana University Bloomington confirmed that the victim was a student studying there and said it was an “anti-Asian hate” incident. Police did not provide details about the victim, except that she was from Carmel, a city north of Indianapolis.

Bloomington is a college town southwest of Indianapolis. About 10% of the city’s population identifies as Asian, according to the US Census Bureau.

The Bloomington Police Department said the attack took place Wednesday afternoon less than a mile from the Indiana University Bloomington campus.

The suspect, 56-year-old Billy R. Davis, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery with a deadly weapon, according to court documents.

According to local police, CCTV footage from a Bloomington Transit bus showed the suspect and victim had not been in contact prior to the attack. The victim was apparently waiting at the door of the bus to get off when another passenger hit her on the head several times. The assailant then got off the bus and left.

According to the police, when the Ministry of Emergency Situations arrived at the scene, the victim was in severe pain and bleeding. She was quickly taken to the district hospital, where it was determined that the bleeding was due to stab wounds to her head.

Police said they were able to identify and track down the suspect with the help of an unnamed witness who followed Davis off the bus after the attack and alerted law enforcement to the suspect’s whereabouts.

While the investigation is ongoing, the unprovoked attack on a person of Asian descent follows an increase in reports of hate crimes against Asians since 2020.

In a statement released Saturday, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton called the attack a “racially motivated incident,” adding that his staff are working to support the victim and the local Asian community.

“I want to state categorically that here in the city of Bloomington, we condemn all forms of racism and discrimination, especially hate-motivated violence,” he said.

James Wimbush, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Multiculturalism at Indiana University, said the attack was “a sad reminder that anti-Asian hatred is real and can have painful consequences for individuals and our society.”

The Center for Asian Culture of the University also spoke earlier.

“We should not fear for our lives in public transport. Traveling by bus should not be dangerous,” the band said in a statement.

The center said the attack caused a “familiar push” in Indiana’s Asian community. In 2016, 18-year-old student Yue Zhang was attacked with an ax by a man who wanted to carry out “ethnic cleansing” in Nashville, Indiana. In 1999, graduate student Won Joon Yoon was gunned down on the street. self-proclaimed white supremacist church.

On Friday, the group also held an audition circle for the students to come together and process feelings of fear, sadness, anger and anxiety.

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