what there is to know
- Video showing an attack on a teenager at a Washington Heights subway station last week has gone viral for its apparent cruelty.
- The NYPD has arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with the attack, and the department says it is also looking for two other boys.
- It’s unclear what led to the attack at the 181st Street station on Friday; Footage posted to social media shows a boy being pulled twice from a train and attacked by a group of three to the cheers of onlookers.
NEW YORK – One of those wanted in connection with a racist attack laden with slurs and stomachaches against a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged, police said, after the victim was thrown twice from a Manhattan subway and beaten relentlessly by a trio of assailants.
The 14-year-old suspect was charged Wednesday with aggravated harassment, assault and threatening, according to police. He was allegedly part of the group that chased the 15-year-old victim to the 181st Street and Fort Washington Avenue station around 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Police are still looking for two other suspects.
It’s unclear what happened before people started recording the incident in Washington Heights, nor was it known if the victim and his attackers had any prior interactions.
After being forcibly removed from train A, the victim was dragged onto the platform by his sweatshirt, before the attackers reached him and began beating him as he sat on a bench on the train’s platform. Metro. Dozens of other young people encouraged them to film the whole ordeal.
A 20-second clip posted in response to the NYPD tweetk shows a chaotic scene in the station, with several people, at one point, three at a time, attacking the victim, who is barely visible as he tries to defend himself on the bench. .
Dozens of young men stand on the platform as he takes blow after blow shouting “Ohh!” almost as if to encourage the onslaught, which the vast majority of viewers seem to be recording on their cellphones.
It’s unclear if he was already on an A train and tried to get back on or if he was trying to board initially, but a girl drags him up and shouts “Walk!”. Clutching his sweatshirt with both fists, she pushes him off the platform from behind. His face mask slides down to his chin.
A sea of apparent teenagers part ways to let the girl drag the victim down the hall, while racial slurs are sprayed on both sides. The boy tries to run at one point and is quickly caught. She grabs her sweatshirt by the front, by the neck, and starts dragging it across the platform behind her, screaming the whole time. Try to get back on the train. She gets on and starts beating him before pulling him off the train again, while racial slurs fly around them.
The boy ends up being taken to the bank, where the girl and two other people pounce on him.
A family member of the victim told our sister network NBC New York that the teenage victim was at home recovering from the attack.
The person who posted the Instagram video, which has now been viewed some 40,000 times, did so in an apparent effort to highlight the depth of the problem and give the NYPD potential faces to seek in a bid for justice.
“I can’t even begin to explain how heartbroken, angry, and disgusted I watch this video. I don’t know what preceded that clip on that train, but I’m having a hard time thinking about anything to justify what happened.” takes place,” the Instagram user wrote. “It’s disappointing that we’re still in this part of the world. People don’t even want to be on the trains at 3 p.m. when the schools are closed. taking away opportunities and civil rights from all these children, and everyone like them, and all they can do is attack each other with insults and violence while others stand around filming and fomenting violence? “
The user called the behavior depicted in the video a “sad situation” and asked, “Is this really how we’re moving downtown in 2023? ,” the user wrote, denouncing the behavior observed in the photos. as a “sad situation”.
Cristina Navarrete reports from Washington Heights.
Carmen de La Rosa, a New York city councilwoman representing the borough where the attack occurred, condemned the attack, saying “it’s not accepted behavior in Uptown.”
“We look forward to seeing New Yorkers lead with kindness and grace toward one another. The scene depicted in the released video is not the way to behave, especially in shared spaces, and we will not tolerate anti-Blackness or hate in our Uptown communities.” “. tweeted the Democrat, pledging to take next steps with the appropriate agencies.
The MTA seems to be one of them.
New York City Transit President Richard Davey condemned the footage in strong terms on Tuesday.
“This video is heartbreaking and disturbing, and our thoughts are with the young man who appears to have been victimized without cause,” Davey said in a statement. “No one should be subjected to this type of hateful harassment while riding New York City Transit, and the MTA is cooperating fully with the NYPD in their investigation of the incident.”
A demonstration to denounce the cruelty filmed was planned for Tuesday afternoon in front of the metro station.
Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.