NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Police identified and arrested a man Friday who assaulted a Sikh teen on a Queens bus earlier this week for wearing a turban and mask.
Christopher Philippeaux, 26, was arrested and charged with a hate crime and assault after being spotted in East Harlem, near East 116th St. and 2nd Ave., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., according to the NYPD.
The 19-year-old hate crime victim was riding an MTA shuttle bus at around 9 a.m. on Sunday in Ozone Park when Philippeaux commented on his turban and mask, police said.
“We don’t wear that in this country,” Philippeaux hurled at him. “And take that mask off!”
The victim moved from the back of the bus, but Philippeaux followed him and began to repeatedly punch him in the head, face and back – while also trying to remove his turban – police said.
The victim experienced minor lacerations and pain but refused treatment at the scene, according to the NYPD.
The Sikh Coalition, a national faith organization based in New York, made a statement celebrating the arrest.
“We are relieved that a suspect in the last weekend’s assault of a young Sikh man in NYC has been arrested and charged with a hate crime,” the group posted on its organization’s social media pages.
“No one should have to endure hate violence in public, and justice in cases like these remains integral to helping our communities feel safer,” the statement read.
Police across the country and federal authorities are on heightened alert for antisemitic or islamophobic violence amid the Israel-Hamas war – exemplified by an increase in security in New York City.
The FBI released their annual statistics on hate crimes on Oct. 16 which acknowledged that antisemitism accounted for over half of all reported religion-based hate crimes and that Muslim Americans continue to be overrepresented among victims.
In response to the FBI’s hate crime statistics and citing the current tense political climate, The White House released a statement on Oct. 16 from President Joe Biden where he states that he has “asked members of [his] team … to prioritize the prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm Jewish, Muslim, Arab American, or any other communities during this time.”
“My Administration will continue to fight Antisemitism and Islamophobia,” Biden’s statement affirmed.