Police in New York have arrested a 16 year old suspected in an attack on an Asian American mom, dad and their twin girls on New York’s F train.
ABC7 reports the girl is one of three teens allegedly involved in the attack this past Thursday.
The Independent reports the 16 year old faces two counts of assault after turning herself in to police. Authorities are considering hate crime charges but have not yet charged the girl with the enhancement.
Both the mother attacked and the woman who caught the attack on her cell phone have said they do not think this is a hate crime.
Because of the age of the girl, her name is not being released and her face has been blurred in the still above.
Sue Young says the three girls began laughing at her family and when she began laughing with them, they became angry. She says the girls then began threatening them to the point other passengers attempted to stop them.
One of the girls walked over to Joanna Lin, the woman who videotaped the incident and punched her in an attempt to get her to stop filming.
Another girl got into Young’s face so the mom says she pushed the girl away.
“Well, as soon as I made contact and pushed her shoulders away, they all came after me. I backed up, but the girl in the white t-shirt came slugging at me… She grabbed my hair, I grabbed her hair, and I basically just grabbed onto her hair to shield my face because she was swinging,” Young said to the Post.
The two other girls involved in the incident are not wanted by police.
The victims say they have compassion for their attackers.
“We don’t know what battles other people have in their lives, but I can imagine they’re probably not as privileged,” Sue Young’s husband said to ABC7. “That probably has a lot to do with their outlook on the world and the anger they may have.”
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Good for them for showing compassion. But no one else in their situation should be expected to. They are in effect teaching their kids to take verbal abuse and threats.