A disturbing video showing a group of teens assaulting and physically abusing a 15-year-old autistic boy in an upper Manhattan subway station has gone viral on social media. The assaulters have not been arrested yet.
Victim Pulled Off Train by Assaulters
The minute-long video starts with the spectacles wearing victim, dressed in a blue-hooded sweatshirt, being pulled off a train by a teen. After forcibly removing the victim from a northbound train at the at the 181st St. station near Fort Washington Ave. in Washington Heights around 5:30 p.m. Friday, a teen girl grabs him by the collar and pushes towards the platform.
As the girl forces the victim to walk on the crowded platform, she is heard shouting "Walk!" Seconds later, the victim tries to board the train when girl tries to pull him back and shouts, "You runnin'!" she screams. "Why you runnin'!"
The onlookers can be heard shouting "N----- alert!" at the autistic black victim. The girl then shouts at the victim "Get offbefore!" before slapping him on the face as he is pushed on the platform.
"Why do you want me to get off?" the victim is heard saying as another teen punches him. As the victim tries to push away the assaulters, the trio gang up and start punching him mercilessly. New York Post reported that the victim suffered multiple injuries including bruising on his face and body.
Incident Leaves Many Shocked
Dubbing the incident as 'heartbreaking and disturbing', New York City Transit President Richard Davey issued a statement. "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 statement read.
Speaking to WABC News, the victim's mother said that it was hard for her to watch the assault video. "It's the first time it hit me — like it hit me directly. I always see it happen to other people. I never see it happen to me in my household," she said.
The mom said she hasn't seen the harrowing footage of the attack, telling the outlet, "I refuse to watch that video. Nobody wants to see their kid being assaulted."
Speaking to ABC 7 the mother said that she knew that her son went out for the evening and was shocked to receive a call from police about the assault and subsequent hospitalization of the her son. "Keep a close eye on them. Because a lot of trouble could have been avoided had I done that," she said adding that the victim received stitches.
