NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The New York Police Department has launched an investigation into a possible hate crime, where three teenagers harassed an Asian family on an NYC subway train before attacking another commuter who attempted to record the encounter. Sue Young, 51, and her family were riding the "F" train at the West 4th Street station at around 8 pm on Thursday, August 3 when they were approached by the suspects who were apparently laughing and pointing at them.
Young initially tried to take things lightly but soon realized that the group was up to no good. "It was just insult, after insult, after insult. And, finally, my husband felt like he needed to step in and so he was like, 'Can you use some better words besides those?'," the mother, who was traveling with her twin daughters, told CBS. When Young's husband implored them to stop, one of the suspects apparently grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground, where she was repeatedly hit in the head while they made an "anti-ethnic remark," as per officials. The apparent attacker also sucker punched a straphanger, Joanna Lin, who took out her phone to record the tumultuous incident.
'It doesn't matter what gender or race, it should never happen'
Lin shared the shocking footage on social media, writing, "I’m in shock & still at a loss for words except for what I documented on the reel. I’ll be ok, just a bit sore on the head and tailbone." In the video, one of the youngsters was seen yelling at Young and her family as they sat on the train. Footage cut to Young and one of the suspects pointing at each other as they sat across the victim's family. Attempting to step in, one man approached the suspects, but the aggressive teen yelled him away. Meanwhile, another teen noticed Lin and forced her to stop recording. After a while, Lin restarted recording the incident before calling 911.
At some point, one of the teenagers noticed Lin and sprinted toward her again, forcing her to turn off the recording. Lin said she was struck during the part. "Same girl saw me with the phone. She ran over, grabbed me by the hair, threw me on the ground, and started punching me several times. And I was like, 'You know what? Let me protect myself.' Boxing stance. It doesn't matter what gender or race, it should never happen," she said.
'I want something positive to come out'
"My glasses got broken," said Young about the incident, adding, "I've had a headache for a couple of days now because my hair was pulled and so my scalp was very tender. I got like a whiplashy neck." Despite the physical pain she's endured, Young stated that she can heal from the incident but hopes that there is accountability from the trio. "I want everyone to see that we can bridge this, that maybe there's good in those girls. And I want something positive to come out, instead of just throwing them in jail," expressed Young.
Police are looking for the suspects involved and have released an image of one of the teens seen in the video. Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
