According to a number of foreign media reports, at about 9:30 a.m. local time on the 15th, a black man pushed an Asian woman waiting for the subway off the platform at the Times Square subway station in New York. The unsuspecting woman fell off the tracks and was killed by a train that was approaching the station. It is reported that the victim is 40-year-old Michelle Go, who is said by the local Chinese media to be a Chinese american.
It was reportedly the second violent death on the New York subway in two weeks. Police said it appeared to have been a random attack, with the victim having no previous intersection with the suspect and not currently characterizing it as an incident of racial hatred.
↑ Currently, the suspect is charged with second-degree murder
The suspect is Simon Marcia, a 61-year-old African-American man who tried to approach another non-Asian woman before attacking Michelle Go, who was frightened and left. The woman said she felt he wanted to push himself down, and as she walked away alertly, she saw Marcia's crime and he pushed Go down.
Police said Marcia then took the subway to Lower Manhattan, and at 9:53 a.m., he walked into the police station at Canal Street Station, claiming he had "pushed a woman onto the tracks." Marcia is currently charged with second-degree murder and the local prosecutor's office is preparing to prosecute him.
In addition, police and state criminal records show that Marcia has been arrested several times before, the earliest dating back to 1998 for robbery, and the most recent in October 2019 for illegal possession of prohibited items. State records show he served two years in state jail for attempted robbery and was released in August 2021.
↑ Police said it could not be characterized as an incident of racial hatred at this time.
Marcia is reportedly a homeless person with a history of mental illness who has previously clashed with police over emotional disorders three times. When he was taken to the police station after his arrest, he also grimaced at the photographer and spat out his tongue. A law enforcement source told the media, "He's crazy and talking gibberish." ”
A woman who identified herself as the suspect's sister, Josset, said Marcia did have a history of mental illness and that "he had been on medication for more than 20 years, going in and out of psychiatric hospitals in New York." The woman said Marcia, from Haiti, used to run a parking lot in New York and "made a lot of money."
Curtis Sriva, founder of Guardian Angels, said he saw the suspect "many times" in the subway. "He would talk to people normally, and then all of a sudden he had a mental disorder," he said, "and it wasn't the first time Asians had been pushed off the platform." How many times is this going to happen? Asians are being attacked in various ways. ”
Chen Huihua, president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York, said the incident was shocking. "This is a horrific attack on another of our citizens. This must stop. We must ensure the safety of the streets and subways for all of our citizens, especially our Asian women. She said.
Foreign media reports say that the COVID-19 pandemic has made subway stations a home for more and more homeless people, many of whom suffer from mental illness or drug addiction, or both, and these people have made countless shocking and frightening headlines. On November 12 last year, a robber pushed an Asian woman onto the tracks, but fortunately the woman was rescued by well-wishers before the train arrived.
Patrick Lynch, president of the NYPD Charitable Association, said the recent spate of subway attacks "highlights our current crisis" and that those who pose a danger to themselves and others cannot stay on the subway and on the streets.
Red Star News reporter Xu Huan
Edited by Zhang Xun
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