It may have been New York City’s first pride celebration following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on DOMA and Prop. 8, but it’s apparent that the recent spate of crimes against LGBT people isn’t over. A Queerty reader alerted us to an incident that happened around 11:45 p.m. June 30 on the F train to Queens. Following the pride festivities in Manhattan two men began uttering remarks such as “Today was a scary day for me. There were fags everywhere.”
As a group of LGBT people boarded the train, “the men proceeded to harass them, stating that the teens made them want to puke and that they would be killed if they were in Iran. The first assailant then threatened to rape them, at which point I took out my phone to document the incident.”
The video shows a man making a threat against a group of young people.
Then, the witness writes, “seeing that he was being recorded, the first assailant lunged at me, violently grabbing my arms while trying to steal away my phone. One of the youth took the phone from me temporarily to protect it and told the assailant he shouldn’t attack a woman. When the assailant threatened to punch me, I took the phone back and ran to the other side of the train to push the emergency button and alert the authorities. At this point the second assailant got up and came towards me, grabbing my body and hands to try and get the phone to destroy the evidence. I yelled and told him I was an attorney. An onlooker then got up and stood between the assailants and myself, and another person left to get the train conductor.”
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According to the witness, the two attackers exited the train at the Roosevelt Avenue station in Jackson Heights, Queens, but were overheard saying that they were en route to Jamaica, Queens.
The witness said the police report lists the altercation as “harassment,” with no mention of hate crime, assault or attempted robbery. The video was uploaded to YouTube to potentially help ID the attackers.
According to the email, the victim was “left with bruises and scratches from both assailants which I also documented. If anyone sees them or knows them personally, please contact the authorities.”
New York’s Anti-Violence Project has issued a statement denouncing the incident. The AVP encourages anyone who witnesses or experiences an act or violence or harassment to report it to the free and confidential 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline at (212) 714-1141.
Red Meat
Its not a hate crime. He assaulted the woman because she was recording, not because she as a lesbian.
tardis
I wouldn’t call this a hate crime, just an intense altercation. Those men are unbelievable, especially the one yelling throughout the entire ordeal. How a person can have so much hate and contempt towards anyone is way beyond me. What an unfortunate incident. And to think of the countless incidents that resemble the actions in the video that go under the radar.
that_dude247
I hope this happens to me on the train one day. Please give me a reason to go crazy.
Homophile
@tardis:
“I wouldn’t call this a hate crime…”
“How a person can have so much hate…”
Huh?
tardis
@Homophile:
I’m talking about two distinct entities: legal and human. As far as it goes, all that happened here was an intense altercation between these people. Are you going to charge every person out there that calls you a derogatory term with a hate crime? A hate crime is usually something that results in hostile violence, like death or a beating.
As for the man in the video, he’s just a hateful man. That’s it.
That’s the difference here.
J.c.
@tardis: The old guy threated to kill the woman. threatening is a crime is it not? I commend the passengers for keeping their cool. Just watching this footage I was ready to jump out of my chair in rage at the audacity of that old bastard!
dga69
i’m sorry but this was a hate crime!
he threatened to kill them…uttering death threats is a crime.
he did this because they were gay.
so it was a hate crime & should be prosecuted.
tolerating it would just lead to a physical hate crime & maybe even a death!
Reality101
@tardis: It IS a hate crime. As someone who has worked in the hate crime enforcement department, the actions were stemmed from disdain made vocal against a group (in this case LGBT) …verbalized disdain on their part. That’s what triggered this incident and while the recording may have escalated the situation it was not the catalyst for the tension that was created. I notice when it comes to anti LGBT hate crimes, people get VERY creative in either excusing them or dismissing them for what they are. And to suggest hate crimes are only valid when someone gets murdered or brutally beat shows that you’re not qualified to comment on the matter. A very serious matter that effects many a LGBT people in our community. As someone who has devoted a good chunk of my life to research, education, and advocacy work on hate crime laws, bills, and awareness…..this case is indeed a hate crime. Sorry you feel different but you can’t rewrite history just to be flippant about realities of life.
NotStr8Acting
@tardis: You are absolutely clueless. This is a hate crime. Stop questioning our intelligence and telling us what we see isn’t actually what we saw. And hate crimes are NOT only legit when someone is harmed. If I so much vandalize your property with a slur against the segment you belong to, that’s a hate crime. Approaching a stranger and screaming threats, violence, and slurs against the segment of population the belong to is a hate crime AND disturbing the peace. You want to brush GLBT off as being ‘uppity’ when we demand to not be threatened within an inch of our life, while having slurs thrown at us. We won’t apologize for holding instigators, attackers, and bigots accountable for their actions. Period.
startenout
@tardis: Actually, in schools and some places where they actually care enough to legislate, the use of derogatory language is certainly enough to add a hate crime statute onto a harrassment charge since the initial incident was prompted by discriminatory hatred.
stanhope
Are you people stupid as dog excrement? This was a HATE CRIME pure and simple. Did you see the tape? Did you hear what was said? Did you hear the threat of murder? What is unbelievable is how stupid some of these comments are. This miserable, impotent, fat ass will be found thanks to you tube.
Caliban
There was clearly physical assault involved in the attempt to grab the camera. Did they commit a crime? Yes. Was it motivated by hate? Yes again. So what’s the fucking problem with calling it a hate crime?
tardis
I’m sorry you all. I’ve been that girl in that video, and it’s not that I’m clueless, I just don’t see it as a hate crime. It’s just that any time the stats quotes is being challenged, this is the type of resistance you’re going to face. A hate crime is a serious offense, and to me personally, you just can’t go charging people with that title. The two were in a heated argument and clearly emotional. He definitely should be charged with assault, but to me personally I just wouldn’t go in that direction, it’s just not going to solve anything.
But, since I’m not a fan of being controversial, I politely step back. I’ll call it a hate crime.
tardis
@NotStr8Acting: I apologize. I just see it differently, I suppose, but I understand your position.
1EqualityUSA
Al…Alec…Alec Baldwin?
Nyruinz
This is more than a coward looking for attention, he knew making those comments were bound to get a reaction.
Once he seen that woman was not backing down, he made sure he talked shit from a distance.
Kangol
The homophobic creeps started up this crap against these young LGBTQ people, one put his hands on the young woman, and then he threatened to kill her and to hit her so hard it would kill her.
That sounds like a hate crime to me. If these creeps don’t like gay people it’s on them. I’m proud of the young woman and her friends for standing up to this hate, because as so many incidents this year and throughout history have made clear, it’s very dangerous, and often deadly, not just to be who you are, but especially to stand up to those who hate you.
Get help. Gay people are not the problem, homophobia is the problem.