Indiana University says student was targeted in bus stabbing for being Asian

Indiana University says an 18-year-old student was targeted and stabbed on a bus in Bloomington for being Asian.

The student was attacked Wednesday afternoon on A Bloomington transit bus.

Billie Davis, 56, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon, according to online court documents.

It wasn’t clear if the defendant had a lawyer who could speak on their behalf. The public defender’s office for Monroe County, Indiana didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

An 18-year-old Carmel, Indiana, woman told investigators that while waiting for the doors of the bus to open, another passenger began to strike her repeatedly in the head, police said in a statement.

The student, who has not been publicly identified, had multiple stab wounds to her head, was bleeding and was transported to a hospital, police said.

Police said that based on video, the woman and suspect had no interaction before the attack.

Police did not respond to a question about whether the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.

“This week, Bloomington was sadly reminded that anti-Asian hate is real and can have painful impacts on individuals and our community,” said James Wimbush, Indiana University vice president of diversity, equity and multicultural affairs. “No one should face harassment or violence due to their background, ethnicity or heritage. Instead, the Bloomington and IU communities are stronger because of the vast diversity of identities and perspectives that make up our campus and community culture.”

The university is providing counseling support to members of the community who need it.

The university’s Asian Culture Center called the attack “a horrific and targeted anti-Asian hate crime.”

“Our thoughts go out to the victim of this horrendous act, to her family, and to everyone in the community who is affected by this racial violence,” it said in a statement Friday. “We are outraged and heartbroken by this unprovoked act of violence, but we also worry for the well-being of our community.”

The university’s Asian Culture Center hosted an event Friday for students and members of the community to “process feelings of fear, sadness, anger, and anxiety,” according to the center’s Facebook.

Indiana’s hate crime law, enacted in 2019, allows judges to consider harsher sentences where “bias” factors, including “color, creed, disability, national origin, race, religion,” motivated the crime, according to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Because the legislature intentionally deleted gender identity and sex as possible motivating factors, the Anti-Defamation League said it Indiana will remain on its list of states without a hate crime law.