A 54-year-old woman walking through Chelsea last Thursday afternoon became the target of a shocking and humiliating street attack that police are investigating as a hate crime.
The incident unfolded just before 3 p.m. near West 26th Street and Seventh Avenue, according to the NYPD. The woman was approached by two men who, authorities say, quickly escalated from harassment to a racially charged assault.
Police said one of the men — wearing a bright red MAGA hat, navy jacket and green scarf — attempted to speak to the woman and leaned in to kiss her without consent. When she pushed him away, officers say the situation turned hostile.
The man allegedly began hurling anti-Black statements at her as she tried to disengage. Meanwhile, his companion — described as wearing a blue-striped beanie and black jacket and holding a smartphone mounted on a tripod — filmed the encounter.
Authorities say the pair then attempted to prevent the woman from leaving the scene.
In a deeply disturbing escalation, police allege the man in the red hat brandished a lighter and set the woman’s boots on fire while the second man recorded the assault. The woman, suddenly confronted with flames at her feet, was forced to react in panic in the middle of a Manhattan sidewalk.
The attack, which happened in broad daylight in a busy neighborhood, left the woman shaken but able to report the incident. Police did not immediately release details about the extent of her physical injuries, but the psychological toll of being racially targeted, harassed and set on fire in public is impossible to ignore.
Investigators began searching for the suspects soon after.
Just hours later, the two men were arrested in dramatic fashion while livestreaming in Manhattan. A reporter observed them broadcasting on YouTube, reading aloud coverage of the incident and denying they had lit the woman’s boots on fire. They boasted — incorrectly — that they were on the cover of a newspaper while walking through the city in clothing matching the descriptions circulated by police.
The livestream captured them continuing to harass bystanders, casually using racial slurs and making lewd comments about women. At one point, they appeared to taunt police officers, unaware they were about to be taken into custody.
Sirens soon rang out, and officers approached the pair while the camera continued rolling. They were handcuffed and placed into a patrol vehicle as viewers watched. An officer appeared to attempt to stop the livestream, which continued briefly before fading to black.
For the woman at the center of the attack, the arrests bring a measure of relief — but not erasure. What began as a routine walk down a Manhattan street turned into a terrifying confrontation marked by racism, humiliation and violence.
The NYPD continues to investigate the incident.
