US woman in her 30s arrested for spitting on Asian and making racist remarks

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] A woman in her 30s, an American who stole items from a store operated by Asians and made racially discriminatory remarks while spitting at Asians, was arrested by the police, U.S. media reported on the 6th (local time).

According to the report, the Mountain View Police Department in California arrested Karen Inman (39) on the 5th on charges related to two crimes targeting Asians.

Inman is accused of stealing groceries and clothing from a store in downtown Mountain View on the 13th of last month. According to the police, Inman said she did not need to pay because the store owner was of Asian descent. In addition, Inman is also accused of shouting racial slurs and spitting at two other customers, including Asians, at a downtown restaurant around the same time.

After this incident, Inman was detained by the police but was soon released as the victims expressed that they did not want to press charges. However, the police continued the investigation in accordance with regulations to proactively investigate hate crimes and consulted with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. As a result, the prosecution concluded that hate crime charges could be applied and an arrest warrant was issued.

Chris Cheng, Chief of Mountain View Police, said, "Hate crimes have never been tolerated in Mountain View and will not be tolerated in the future. We take these hate crimes seriously and will investigate them thoroughly."