A shocking video caught the moment a group of strangers beat up a Black teen with autism and even dragged him off a New York City bus. The city's police department said the incident happened at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 10 inside the subway station at 181 Street and Fort Washington Avenue.
The footage, which was originally shared on social media, shows a girl dragging the victim by his hoodie onto a northbound train while repeatedly yelling "Walk!" during the rush hour commute. During the chaos, a voice can be heard shouting the N-word and insults.
The girl then strikes the boy, who tries to defend himself as he's pulled back onto the busy platform by the aggressive girl. Another clip from the video shows the girl and two other people surrounding the Black teen and pummeling him all at once.
The boy's mother told WABC she couldn't watch the disturbing video.
"I refuse to watch that video," she said, wanting to keep her identity anonymous for her family's safety. "Nobody wants to see their kid being assaulted."
According to police, the victim was repeatedly punched in the head and face and suffered a cut lip. His mother said her son, who has high-functioning autism, will need stitches. He has no idea who those people were or why they attacked him, the mother told reporters.
New York City Transit President Richard Davey called the video 'heartbreaking and disturbing" in a statement following the incident.
"Our hearts are with the young man seemingly being senselessly victimized," he said. "No one should be subject to this sort of hateful harassment while they are riding with New York City Transit, and the MTA is fully cooperating with the NYPD in its investigation into the incident."
Police also released pictures of the three suspects, who are wanted for assault. NYPD"s Hate Crimes unit is also investigating since a racial slur was hurled during the attack, per WABC.
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