What to Know
- A medical student and electric cellist with the stage name Eyeglasses was randomly attacked while performing at the Herald Square subway station
- The incident occurred at 5:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13 and it was caught on video
- A woman was arrested in the caught-on-camera bottle attack and was charged with assault — but was released without bail hours later; now she has been indicted
A woman has been indicted in the metal water bottle attack on a Herald Square musician as he performed for an evening rush crowd the day before Valentine's Day, Manhattan prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Amira Hunter, of Brooklyn, was arrested on an assault charge about two weeks after the caught-on-camera bottle attack on Feb. 13 at the midtown transit hub. The Manhattan indictment charges Hunter, 23, with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the attack on cellist Iain Forrest.
Prosecutors allege Hunter is the woman seen on video smacking Forrest in the back of his head with his own metal water bottle. Video shows the woman leaning on a column at the 34th Street station while looking at her phone, then putting her phone in her bag and marching behind Forrest. She grabs his metal water bottle and whacks him forcefully, causing swelling and substantial pain, according to court documents and statements made on the record in court.
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Hunter allegedly ran off after the attack, which Forrest said made him consider whether to give up the gig completely.
“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” he announced on his Instagram two days after the attack. “I’m suspending subway performances indefinitely.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg condemned the attack.
Local
"Subway musicians bring joy to New York’s bustling subway system, and they deserve to perform in a safe environment. As alleged, Amira Hunter’s random and violent action left a subway musician in immense pain,” Bragg said. "Anyone who threatens the safety of New Yorkers using our public transportation will be held accountable. I hope the victim continues to heal from this assault."
Hunter has previous arrests for petit larceny, for which she has failed to show up in court multiple times. Attorney information for her wasn't immediately clear Thursday.
While the MTA doesn’t log specific numbers of assaults on musicians in subway stations, Forrest says he believes tracking those numbers and diverting resources can help prevent future attacks.
“If you talk to any of these musicians, they’ll tell you something similar happened to them. They got assaulted. They got attacked, harassed,” Forrest said.
The musician has entertained locals and tourists in subway stations for nearly a decade. He also performed the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden last December.
