In addition to violence being inflicted upon marginalized folks by Republicans—particularly trans people, immigrants, and people of color—at the local and state level, individuals are (sadly) still hurting one another, too. As my coworker Aysha Qamar continues to cover, for instance, we’ve seen countless reports of violence against Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) here in the United States, including the Atlanta spa massacre. As Qamar also highlights, attacks against Jewish people continue to be a terrifying problem. There’s also ongoing state violence when we consider police brutality, particularly against Black men and trans sex workers of color.
According to CNN, a 22-year-old man was attacked while riding the subway in New York City. An unidentified person was caught on video attacking the young man and shouting homophobic slurs while the survivor was riding the A-train in the afternoon on March 19. According to police, the attacker approached the survivor and spit on and threatened them. Police have released a video of the attack in an attempt to have the public help identify the attacker.
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The New York Police Department (NYPD) is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. According to police, the individual allegedly sat across from the survivor and said, “I wish I had my pepper spray.” From there, the individual made similar statements and spit on the victim. After the survivor stood up in what was likely an attempt to move away from the harassment, the individual eventually grabbed the victim by the hair, punched them in the face and head multiple times, and charged at them, according to police.
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Police say the attacker said, “I’m sick of all you f-gs” while punching the victim and tearing hair from their head. The attacker appeared to push the survivor around the subway car while holding onto their hair.
At least one person appears to have been a witness to the attack in addition to the bystander who filmed it.
Here is that video, which as a warning is disturbing.
You can also see a clip of the footage below via YouTube.
The survivor was eventually taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition. As of now, there is a reward of up to $3,500 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest. People with information are encouraged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477.