BOROUGH PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) — New York City police are searching for the man wanted in connection to a hate crime robbery in Brooklyn last week.
It happened around 11 a.m. Tuesday while the victim was on the northbound D train platform at the 9th Avenue subway station.
Police say the suspect approached the 20-year-old woman and made anti-Islamic statements before throwing her to the ground.
The suspect also took the victim’s phone and threw it on the floor, causing damage to the phone.
Police say the suspect made statements like “It’s funny how terrorists can walk around now” and “the mayor can’t help you now.”
The victim ran away from the scene. He was last seen wearing a black and white jacket, dark pants and black shoes.
“Very, very disturbing, particularly in a city like New York where you have so many people of so many different backgrounds,” said Corey Saylor with CAIR Research and Advocacy. “The details from the police report are the absolute nightmare scenario. It’s always important to me that political leaders come out quickly and condemn.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement on Wednesday.
“No one should be targeted with slurs, threats, or violence – ever,” he said. “Muslim New Yorkers deserve to move through this city in safety and dignity.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul also released a statement on the attack:
“Targeting, harassing, and assaulting someone because of who they are is an attack on everything we stand for as New Yorkers… To our Muslim neighbors: You belong here. You are valued. And we will continue to fight every day to ensure your safety.”
Saylor just finished research on the state of Islamophobia in America.
“Unfortunately our latest civil rights report shows that Islamophobia in the United States is at an all-time high and recently, and some of the unfortunate new trends include very senior level politicians introducing legislation that would effectively, if enacted, ban the practice of Islam in the United States,” Saylor said.
Anyone with 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).
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