March 31, 2022
Watch: NYPD Looking for Suspect in Anti-Gay Subway Assault
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Video taken on a New York City subway shows a suspect in a hate attack uttering an anti-gay slur, grabbing the victim's hair, and punching him repeatedly, the New York Daily News reported.
According to the city's police department, "The 22-year-old victim was riding an uptown A train approaching the 190th St. subway station about 2:20 p.m. March 19 when the assailant approached him," the news outlet said.
The account went on to detail how the suspect sat next to the victim and said, "I wish I had my pepper spray." The suspect then "spat at the victim," the account said.
The suspect repeated the comment about the pepper spray – "I have to start carrying my pepper spray," the Daily News quoted him as saying – and spat at the victim a second time.
At that point, "The victim stood up and the suspect charged him, grabbed him by the hair and repeatedly punched him in the face and head," the Daily News relayed.
During the brutal assault the suspect "rip[ped] the victim's hair out of their head while using an anti-gay slur, 'I'm sick of all you [expletive],'" local news channel ABC 7 reported.
The assailant then fled the scene, the Daily News said.
"The victim suffered cuts and bruises during the attack, and was hospitalized but expected to recover," detailed NBC New York.
"The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477)," NBC New York added.
Watch the ABC 7 news clip below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
