Disturbing video footage has surfaced on social media, showing a group of strangers dragging a 15-year-old boy with autism off a Manhattan train and pummeling him on the platform while hurling racial slurs at him. The incident took place on Friday around 5:30 p.m. at the 181st Street–Fort Washington Avenue station.
The video, posted to Instagram, shows a young woman wearing pulling the teen off a northbound A train and yelling, “Get off!” She then drags him down the busy platform while repeatedly screaming, “Walk! Walk!” A male voice can be heard shouting a racial slur followed by “alert.”
When the victim attempts to board again, the woman drags him off again. The group then proceeds to repeatedly punch him in the head and face, causing a cut on his lip.
The NYPD’s 34th Precinct stated that the victim did not know his assailants, and the Hate Crime Task Force was notified due to the anti-black slur that was used. The victim’s mother, who did not want to be identified, said that her son does not know who attacked him or why.
The boy, who has high-functioning autism, left his Queens home that evening. Upon learning that he had made it to Upper Manhattan and was in the hospital, his mother was shocked. She warned other parents to keep a closer eye on their children, saying that a lot of trouble could have been avoided if she had done so.
Currently, there have been no arrests related to the incident. NYC Transit President Richard Davey condemned the attack, saying that “No one should be subject to this sort of hateful harassment while they are riding with New York City Transit.”