What to Know
- A 54-year-old man pleaded guilty to attacking a 20-year-old woman on a Manhattan-bound E train in Queens because he thought she was gay
- The woman had been on the subway with a friend who kissed her on the cheek; that's when Allasheed Allah first yelled at them
- He followed the pair off the train, then walked up behind the victim and hit her in the head and chest, shoving her into a nearby pole
A 54-year-old Manhattan man has pleaded guilty to assault as a hate crime for shoving and hurling homophobic slurs at a woman as she road a subway last year, the Queens district attorney's office said Thursday.
Allasheed Allah will be sentenced to up to three years in prison in November. According to the charges, it was during the evening rush on Nov. 20, 2018 that Allah started to argue with a 20-year-old woman on a Manhattan-bound E train at the Forest Hills station in Queens.
The woman had been with a friend who kissed her on the cheek. Allah, seeing the smooch, yelling out, "Kiss her again, you ..." and incorporated profanity. He followed the pair when they got off the train, then walked behind the victim and hit her once in the head and chest, shoving her into a nearby pole.
The woman hit the floor after that, suffering multiple injuries to her head and back, authorities say. She has since recovered from the physical injury.
When questioned by police, Allah admitted pushing her because she was "disrespecting me with all that gay (expletive)."
"This kind of hate-inspired assault is intolerable and we won’t stand for it here in Queens County - the most diverse county in the country," Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said in a statement. "The defendant will go to prison as a result of this vicious attack. The victim, I am happy to say, has recovered and hopefully will be able to put this horrible incident behind her forever.”
