We can all agree that we wish COVID-19 had never happened. Even though the virus originated in China, Asian American people are in no way responsible for the virus, and blaming them for it doesn’t make sense. Unfortunately there has been an increase in hate crimes against Asian American people this past year.

Vilma Kari is originally from the Philippines. She relocated to the Chicago area, and has since moved to New York City. One day, she was walking to church when she was attacked by a man who made very racist remarks before beating her for no reason. She didn’t make it to church that day. Instead, she went to the hospital and months later has yet to fully recover. The attacker was identified as a 38-year-old parolee named Brandon Elliot.

Kari’s daughter, Elizabeth Kari, set up a GoFundMe for her mother. In the description she explained that the security footage of the crime is hard for her to watch, but she also explained that the video didn’t capture everything. Thankfully, there was someone across the street who yelled at the attacker to get his attention, and it eventually worked. The attacker left Vilma Kari and approached the stranger across the street instead.

Kari is now speaking out about her experience. Instead of being angry, she has a different attitude. She is praying for her attacker. Watch the video below to hear her story and hear how she is doing now.

Kari hopes that sharing her story will “bring greater awareness to the racism and hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander community.” She is also “really thankful for the outpouring of support.”

Kari refuses to discuss how she feels about the men in the security footage who closed the door instead of coming to her aid, but many viewers find their behavior appalling. One comment reads, “People standing there and watching but doing nothing, disgusting…If you see something do something.”

As mentioned in the video, the doormen were fired. It’s also important to point out that even though they closed the door, they did call the police. They didn’t do as much as they could have done, but they did do something.

Does it surprise you that Kari is praying for her attacker? What would you have done differently if you had been one of the doormen?