Accused Mall Attacker Blames Women Who Rejected Him: Police

BLOOMINGTON, MN — The man accused of throwing a 5-year-old off of the third floor at the Mall of America blames women for his aggressive behavior, according to police. Emmanuel Aranda, 24, of Minneapolis, has been charged with attempted premeditated first-degree murder.

According to the criminal complaint, Aranda indicated to police that he had been coming to the mall for several years and made efforts to talk to women there, but they rejected him.

The rejection "caused him to lash out and be aggressive," the criminal complaint states.

Police say Aranda was previously ordered to stay out of the mall after he threw water in a woman’s face and destroyed property.

Aranda admitted he came to the mall Thursday intending to kill an adult, but that it did not "work out," according to the complaint. He returned Friday and chose to attack the 5-year-old boy instead, according to police.

Authorities say video surveillance showed Aranda looking over the third-floor balcony several times before approaching the boy Friday. The boy was thrown approximately 39 feet and landed on the first floor, according to police. He suffered life-threatening injuries and remains hospitalized.

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Last week's attack at the mall is the latest in a string of assaults involving an accused male who blames women and sexual frustration for making them violent. In November, a 40-year-old man shot six people at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, before fatally shooting himself. Two women were killed.

According to CNN, the Florida attacker identified with "involuntary celibates," also known as "incels," a subculture of men who despise women because they won't have sex with them.

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In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center added "male supremacy " to the ideologies they track because of the way certain groups — including incels — "denigrate and dehumanize women, often including advocating physical and sexual violence against them."