A transgender woman in New York City was assaulted by a man with a screwdriver on a subway train station, according to police.
The 27-year-old victim was on the A train heading towards Brooklyn on Wednesday and while at Fulton station at half noon, the attacker began harassing the victim.
“What are you looking at, f****t” the suspect is alleged to have asked her, prompting an exchange of words between the pair.
Following his attack, which involved lunging a screwdriver at her face, the victim is believed to have pepper sprayed her attacker in self defence, according to the New York Police Department on Thursday.
Rodney Harrison, NYPD chief of department said, “Our victim was hit with a screwdriver in the head and the leg.”
He also stated that the suspect is still at large, as he explained, “Somehow our perpetrator got away, but we’re once again doing a video canvass trying to identify the perpetrator.”
He also said that the attack was being investigated by the Hate Crimes Task Force.
The comments from Mr Harrison were made at a press conference at the Gay Officers Action League to declare initiatives for LGBT+ members of the force during pride month, Independent reports.
According to data, transgender people are particularly vulnerable, as four in five people who answered Gallup’s Transphobic Hate Crime Survey in 2020 said they had been the victim of a transphobic hate crime.
“Faced with this huge level of unmet need, we need leadership within communities, councils, government and police to recognise transphobia, challenge it, and provide specialist services for those targeted, in order that trans people can lead safe, happy and fulfilled lives that are free from abuse and violence,” Nick Antjoule, the Gallup’s Head of Hate Crime Services wrote about the findings.
