Sue Young Asian family taunted on NYC subway on F train heading downtown by 3 black teen girls as NYPD now seek the identities of the involved teens with passenger, Joanna Lin who recorded unfolding incident also assaulted.
Who are they? Distressing video has been released showing 3 African American teen girls harassing an Asian family of tourists aboard a New York City subway train before attacking one visitor along with a Good Samaritan attempting to film the unfolding encounter.
The NYPD is seeking the identities of the suspects – who were all black – in an assault being investigated as a hate crime.
Sue Young, 51, and her family, were visiting NYC from Nevada, when they were approached by the three teen girls who were laughing and pointing at them on Thursday night around 8pm while they were riding the F train at the West 4th Street station.
‘I want to be able to say ‘don’t do that,”
At first, Young was trying to be a good sport, but realized the trio was up to no good. Young said it was ‘insult, after insult, after insult,’ she told CBS New York.
Her husband asked them to stop, causing one of the suspects to pull Young to the ground by her hair, where she was repeatedly punched in her head before the suspects fled.
Passenger Joanna Lin, a witness of the disturbing exchange, took out her cell phone and started recording the scene only to be sucker-punched by the thuggish girls.
Speaking to ABC7NYC Sue Young who stood up to the girls says she doesn’t regret what she did on board the F train – even if it led to her being assaulted along with Good Samaritan, who recorded the scene being assaulted.
‘I want to be able to say ‘don’t do that,” Young told ABC7.
Who are they?
Police are looking for the people involved and released an image of one of the teens seen in the video.
Anyone with any 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). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
Lin wrote that she ‘knew it was going to get bad,’ and took out her phone to document the incident.
‘One of them saw me and tried to block the view (didn’t work).’ Lin wrote.
The video showed one of the teens yelling at Young and her family, comprising of Sue Young’s husband, and their 11-year-old twin daughters as they sat on the train.
Footage cut to Young and one of the suspects pointing at each other as they sat across from each other on the train. A man walked up and tried to intervene. One of the suspects started to yell at the man as another made a line toward Lin – forcing her to cease recording.
Lin started to record again as the girls are just inches away from the family sitting on the train. That is when Lin reported she called 911 and reported the incident.
A teen with dreadlocks then sprints toward Lin, again, forcing her to turn off the camera. Lin said she was struck during the part.
Lin resumed recording saying a brawl broke out as passengers tried to prevent the family from getting hit. The dreadlocked teen makes a run toward Lin again as she is recording, and Lin was dragged by her hair.
‘She darted over, took me by the hair, threw me on the ground, and started punching me,’ Lin told ABC7.
Young stood up and said one girl got her in the face. Police are now looking to talk to the girl.
Attacks against Asian Americans remain persistent
‘I pushed her out of my face, that’s when the girl who had attacked Joanna started attacking me. The girl in the white shirt and I were both pulling her hair,’ Young told ABC7.
Lin wrote on social media, in part, how she was still ‘in shock and still at a loss for words.
‘I will be ok, just a bit sore on the head and tailbone,’ she wrote before urging other riders to be careful. ‘Please be safe and share this video to spread awareness.’
She also gave an apology for what she described as the ‘pre-mature use of the hashtag in the final frame.’
‘Even though racial slurs were used, I believe this is an incident of subway violence and bullying caused by delinquents – we need to teach our youth to not hate and to control their anger because it is toxic, triggering and infectious.’
Her post garnered more than 10,000 likes.
Young told CBS that while Lin was being attacked – by the same person who attacked her- she pushed the teen off of her.
Other people on the train were able to intervene and help Young and her family and Lin get off the train safely.
‘My glasses got broken,’ Young said. ‘I’ve had headache for a couple of days now because my hair was pulled and so my scalp was very tender. I got like a whiplashy neck.’
Jo-Ann Yoo, president of the Asian American Federation, told the dailymail on Monday that she and her peers watched the video with ‘broken hearts and disappointment.’
‘As we provide services through our Hope Against Hate campaign, and deal with the ongoing need for support services from those who are struggling with the aftermath of verbal and physical attacks, we continue to warn that anti-Asian hate persists.
‘This video is a call to action for all New Yorkers to treat each other with patience and respect, and safety is something we all must strive for. Our shared safety is dependent on each New Yorker looking out for each other.’
The incident harkens to previous attacks against Asian Americans through out the U.S as the race is often seen as advancing at the expense of other class and races and ‘not legitimately’ belonging in the U.S despite making great strides in the nation.
