A 15-year-old special-needs boy was beaten up Friday during the 5:30 rush hour commute in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The young man, who has high-functioning autism, is recuperating at home.
A video of the incident went viral on social media, showing a teen girl dragging the boy by his sweater on a train while other teens taunted him, shouted slurs at him, and cursed at him.
The girl pulling him is seen yelling in his face, while people in the background simply watch and film the incident, making no attempt to assist the young man. Someone in the crowd simply yells “fight back” as the teen is punched by three people at the same time.
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His mother has refused to watch the video of her son being abused. “I’m not going to watch that video. Nobody wants to see their child being abused,” she explained. She was aware that her son had left for the evening, but she was surprised to receive a call from the police department on Friday evening. She stated that she has learned from the experience and is advising others to do the same.
“Keep an eye on them. Because it would have saved me a lot of trouble,” she explained. The victim’s mother has also chosen anonymity out of concern for her and her son’s safety. She stated that, while her son required stitches, she is more concerned about the psychological harm caused by the attack. She also stated that her son has no idea why he was attacked or who the teens who attacked him are.
Following the incident, police can be seen arriving to question the victim and bystanders.
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Police are searching for the two females and one male who can be seen in the footage, and the NYPD Hate Crimes is also looking into the attack due to the anti-Black slurs shouted by the perpetrators.
New York City Transit President Richard Davey made a statement following the heartbreaking incident,
“Our hearts are with the young man seemingly being senselessly victimized. No one should be subject to this sort of hateful harassment while they are riding with New York City Transit, and the MTA is fully cooperating with the NYPD in its investigation into the incident.”
The NYPD posted a photo of the attackers on Facebook and is asking for anyone with information on the 3 assailants to call the crime stoppers hotline.
