Man charged with hate crimes in NYC street attacks

A Brooklyn man was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault and stalking as a hate crime, as well as minor harassment, after he carried out a series of attacks on strangers over the past year, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.

The man, Skiboky Stora, 40, who is black, was accused of targeting people he believed to be white, female or Jewish. He was arrested in March when one of his alleged victims shared her story on TikTok. The woman, Halley Kate Mcgookin, then 23, said she was walking in Chelsea when a man punched her in the face so hard that she fell to the ground. Police arrested Mr Stora two days later. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ms McGookin’s video is one of many this spring in which young women described being randomly attacked on public streets at a time of growing concern about crime in the city.

“Skiboky Stora allegedly committed a series of hate-motivated incidents against multiple individuals based on their perceived gender, race and religion,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg said in a statement. “Above all, what defines our city is respect and acceptance of all people. No one should have to fear for their safety because of their identity.”

Mr Stora, a sometime fringe political candidate, has posted provocative images of young women on his Instagram account and there are pictures of himself standing in front of a “Trump: Make America Great Again” sign.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office accuses Stora of attacking several people seemingly at random and in broad daylight. In September, Stora elbowed a 17-year-old white boy in the neck, prosecutors said. The following month, he allegedly elbowed a 37-year-old white woman in the shoulder. And in November, Stora attacked a man and a woman, both white 28-year-olds, after the woman took a photo of him tearing down posters of Israeli hostages. Stora followed the couple and shouted anti-Semitic remarks, including “Die, Jews, die!”, prosecutors said.

Ms McGookin’s video, which has been viewed more than 51 million times since it was posted in late March, was one in a series of similar viral videos from women, with men also reporting attacks.

This month, actor Steve Buscemi was struck in the face in Manhattan and taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated for bruising, swelling and bleeding in his left eye. In April, actor Michael Stuhlbarg, Buscemi’s co-star in the television series “Boardwalk Empire,” was also attacked while walking in Central Park. Arrests were made in both cases.

According to police figures, the number of serious bodily injuries increased by 4.8 percent compared to the same period last year, while the number of minor bodily injuries increased by 7.2 percent.

Ginia Bellafante And Maria Cramer contributed to the reporting.