Florida woman who pepper-sprayed Asian women in NYC indicted on hate crime charges

July 15, 2022

The Florida woman accused of pepper-spraying a group of Asian women in New York City last month was indicted on hate crime charges.

Madeline Barker, the 47-year-old woman who was accused of hurling xenophobic comments and pepper-spraying four Asian women in Chelsea on June 11, was indicted on 12 hate crime charges on Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The Merritt Island resident, who admitted to being the woman involved in the incident, was previously arrested and arraigned on eight hate crime charges last month.

Barker has now been indicted on eight counts of assault in the third degree as a hate crime and four counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree — a misdemeanor hate crime, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Office.

Nicole, one of the victims in the incident, previously told NextShark that Barker had said, “Go back to the country you came from,” and “You don’t belong here.” Nicole said the woman pepper-sprayed her group of friends when she took out her phone to record the scene.

All four victims suffered from a burning sensation to their eyes as well as substantial pain due to the assault, according to Bragg.

“Hearing the hateful and discriminatory words, ‘go back to your country’ is deeply painful, and these women allegedly heard them before enduring the physical pain of Ms. Barker’s pepper spray. People of all backgrounds deserve to feel safe, which is why my Office is enhancing these prosecutions through the expansion of the Hate Crimes Unit,” Bragg said in a statement.

Barker is currently being held at Rikers Island on $20,000 bail.

Featured Image via Nicole for NextShark

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