Sina Rezaie NYC doctor has his jaw broken in suspected homophobic anti gay hate crime in unprovoked attack. Assailant remains at large.
A doctor and Jacksonville, Florida native is recovering from serious injuries after he was beaten in NYC over the 4th of July weekend in what he believes was a anti-gay hate crime attack.
The unprovoked attack happened about 3 a.m. Saturday as Dr. Sina Rezaie was walking home from a subway stop in Greenwich Village, WNBC-TV reports.
Rezaie, 29, told the news station his assailant called him a homophobic slur and then attacked him while his back was turned.
‘He called me an [expletive] and then half a block later he came from behind and kicked and punched me multiple times,’ said Rezaie, whose broken jaw is being held together by metal plates and screws.
Rezaie told of managing to pick himself up and make his way to a nearby bar, where two of his friends noticed something was wrong and helped get him to a city hospital for treatment.
‘Why did this happen to me?’
‘I saw him holding his mouth and blood running from his face. He said that he had gotten attacked by some guy who said something to him as he got off the train,’ one of those friends, Richard Daley told WNBC-TV.
Before the attack, Rezaie said he ‘always felt safe’ in the neighborhood and wonders why he was the target of a brutal hate crime. ‘I don’t know why this happened to me,‘ he said.
Despite the presence of several surveillance cameras in the neighborhood, Rezaie’s attacker hadn’t been arrested as of Monday afternoon.
Just one week before the attack, individuals lined the streets of Greenwich Village to celebrate Pride month – a period of inclusivity and diversity.
The 29-year-old doctor’s friends have stepped up to help with his recovery in the wake of the attack. One of them launched a crowdfunding campaign to defray the cost of his medical bills. By Monday night, the GoFundMe had raised more than $10,798.
‘I’m so sorry. I wish you a quick recovery. Hang on there friend, we are here with you,’ one donor wrote.
‘So sorry this happened to you. Wishing you a speedy recovery,’ another donor added.
According to the GoFundMe, Rezaie’s jaw will remain fused shut for the next few weeks so that his injuries can properly heal. The campaign’s organizer, Sammy Daylor, told News4Jax that Rezaie’s jaw is so swollen from surgery that he is unable to speak.
Incident comes as NYC crime continues to rise post COVID pandemic
‘He’s also in a lot of pain and even replying to my texts has been very difficult for him,’ Daylor added. ‘His family really needs time to process everything that has happened to Sina, as well.’
Come Monday, Rezaie issued a statement on his Instagram page where he expressed gratitude for the support he received from friends, family and the community following Saturday’s ordeal.
Rezaie’s recovery will be a long and difficult one, as doctors said his mouth will have to remain shut for about a month to heal.
Shootings, rapes, stabbings and other attacks have risen to disturbing levels in the city’s five boroughs in the aftermath of the brunt of the COVID pandemic which undermined America, seemingly intensifying the increasingly extreme income disparity in the US in the last year and a half.
Recent figures cited by the dailymail show felony assaults are up from 9,399 to 10,045. Murders citywide are up 12 percent from 189 at this time last year to 212 so far in 2021.
Rapes are up from 650 to 684 in the year to June 27. In just one week – from Wednesday, June 23 through Tuesday, June 29 – all five boroughs of New York City were plagued by chilling murders, drive-by shootings, nightly wildings in Washington Square Park and smaller random acts of violence.
