MCKINNEY, Texas — A North Texas woman pleaded guilty last week to state hate crime charges in connection to an incident outside of a restaurant where she was recorded yelling racially charged statements at a group of Indian-American women. 

What You Need To Know

  • The confrontation happened back in August 2022 outside the Sixty Vines restaurant in Plano

  • Esmeralda Upton was seen physically assaulting three women and threatening a fourth with statements like, “Go back to India” and “We don’t want you here.”

  • Upton was convicted Friday of three misdemeanor assault charges and one misdemeanor terroristic threat charge, and all of those charges included a hate crime enhancement because of her bias and prejudice toward the victims

  • Upton was sentenced to two years of probation and 40 days of confinement in the Collin County Jail for each of the cases, which will be served concurrently. She was also fined $500 in each case

The confrontation happened back in August 2022 outside the Sixty Vines restaurant in Plano, where Esmeralda Upton, 59, physically assaulted three women and threatened a fourth with statements like, “Go back to India” and “We don’t want you here.”

“Even after Plano Police arrived on the scene, Upton continued her racially charged comments and was eventually arrested on state charges,” a news release from the Collin County District Attorney’s Office said. 

Upton was convicted Friday of three misdemeanor assault charges and one misdemeanor terroristic threat charge, and all of those charges included a hate crime enhancement because of her bias and prejudice toward the victims. 

“As Americans, we should all be able to enjoy our Constitutional liberties, free and secure from this type of racially motivated assault,” said Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis in the release.

Upton was sentenced to two years of probation and 40 days of confinement in the Collin County Jail for each of the cases, which will be served concurrently. She was also fined $500 in each case.