At her first court appearance on Saturday, a Florida woman accused of pepper-spraying four ladies in Manhattan while going into an anti-Asian diatribe was labeled a probable flight risk and ordered detained on a $20,000 bond.
Who is Madeline Barker?
Madeline Barker, 47, is charged with assault as a hate crime after she was captured on video in Chelsea on June 11 telling four ladies to “go back to where you came from” before unleashing a spray attack.
Barker, a resident of Merritt Island in the Sunshine State, was deemed a flight risk by prosecutors. She didn’t turn herself in and was only apprehended when an eyewitness saw her on the street and reported her to the police, according to an assistant district attorney in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Judge Eric Schumacher granted the request and set bail at $20,000 cash and a $20,000 partly secured bond.
The court was advised by Barker’s legal aid counsel that the case had been “amped up by media sensation.”
After being recorded on tape pepper-spraying individuals and going on an anti-Asian diatribe in Manhattan, Madeline Barker faces accusations of assault as a hate crime.
In an interview with The New York Post, one of the victims said she and three companions had left the L.E.A.F. Flower Show in the Meatpacking District at 6 p.m. when the fight broke out. The pals came to a halt at a corner when one of the group discovered she had misplaced her luggage before Barker screamed that the ladies were “harassing her,” according to the victim.
The lady and the others are seen fighting on video before Barker approaches and sprays them. “Go back where you came from!” she allegedly yelled. Return to your homeland!”
According to investigators and the victim, the accused then fled the scene.
Mckourage