[TW Murder, Islamophobia] Woman Accused of Hate-Crime Murder in Subway Push
A 31-year-old woman was being held by the police on Saturday, authorities said, in connection with the death of a man who was pushed onto the tracks of an elevated subway station in Queens and crushed by an oncoming train.
The woman, Erika Menendez of the Bronx, has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said.
“The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter’s nightmare,” Mr. Brown said in an interview. “Being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train.”
Mr. Brown said that the woman was motivated by hatred, telling the police, that she “pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up.”
Ms. Menendez conflated the Muslim and Hindu faiths both in her comments to the police and in her target for attack, officials said.
The victim, Sunando Sen, was born in India and, according to a roommate, was raised Hindu.
Mr. Sen “was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself,” Mr. Brown said. “Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant’s actions should never be tolerated by a civilized society.”
Mr. Brown said that he had no information on the defendant’s criminal or mental history.
“It will be up to the court to determine if she is fit to stand trial,” he said.
The attack occurred around 8 p.m. on Thursday at the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside.
Mr. Sen was peering out over the tracks when a woman approached him from behind and shoved him onto the tracks, accoarding to the police. Mr. Sen never saw her, the police said..
The woman fled the station, running down two flights of stairs and down the street.
By the next morning, a brief and grainy black-and-white video of the woman who the police said was behind the attack was being broadcast on news programs.
Patrol officers picked up Ms. Menendez early Saturday after someone who had seen the video on television spotted her on a Brooklyn street and called 911, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department. She was taken to Queens and later placed in lineups, according to detectives.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Friday that according to witnesses’ accounts, there had been no contact on the subway platform between the attacker and the victim immediately before the fatal shove.
The case was the second this month involving someone being pushed to death in a train station. In the first case, Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Elmhurst, Queens, died under the Q train at the 49th Street and Seventh Avenue station on Dec. 3. Naeem Davis, 30, has been charged with second-degree murder in that case. A lawyer for Mr. Davis said his client had been trying to push Mr. Han away after an altercation.
The police said Mr. Sen was a 46-year-old immigrant who lived in Queens After years of hard work, he had finally saved enough money to open a small copying business this year on the Upper West Side.
Ar Suman, one of four roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Mr. Sen in Elmhurst, said he was driving a client upstate when another roommate called and told him what had happened. Mr. Suman raced back to the city, only to find there was nothing he could do.
“He was a very educated person and quite nice,” Mr. Suman said. “It is unbelievable. He never had a problem with anyone.”
Mr. Sen’s roommates could not understand what might have led to the fatal encounter on Thursday. “This guy is so quiet, so gentle, so nice,” said M. D. Khan, a taxi driver who also lives in the apartment.
Source.
She murdered someone for a racial/religious reason and had the sense to run away after killing him. I see nothing mentally ill about this. I see everything hateful about this.
The woman, Erika Menendez of the Bronx, has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said.
“The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter’s nightmare,” Mr. Brown said in an interview. “Being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train.”
Mr. Brown said that the woman was motivated by hatred, telling the police, that she “pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up.”
Ms. Menendez conflated the Muslim and Hindu faiths both in her comments to the police and in her target for attack, officials said.
The victim, Sunando Sen, was born in India and, according to a roommate, was raised Hindu.
Mr. Sen “was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself,” Mr. Brown said. “Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant’s actions should never be tolerated by a civilized society.”
Mr. Brown said that he had no information on the defendant’s criminal or mental history.
“It will be up to the court to determine if she is fit to stand trial,” he said.
The attack occurred around 8 p.m. on Thursday at the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside.
Mr. Sen was peering out over the tracks when a woman approached him from behind and shoved him onto the tracks, accoarding to the police. Mr. Sen never saw her, the police said..
The woman fled the station, running down two flights of stairs and down the street.
By the next morning, a brief and grainy black-and-white video of the woman who the police said was behind the attack was being broadcast on news programs.
Patrol officers picked up Ms. Menendez early Saturday after someone who had seen the video on television spotted her on a Brooklyn street and called 911, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department. She was taken to Queens and later placed in lineups, according to detectives.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Friday that according to witnesses’ accounts, there had been no contact on the subway platform between the attacker and the victim immediately before the fatal shove.
The case was the second this month involving someone being pushed to death in a train station. In the first case, Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Elmhurst, Queens, died under the Q train at the 49th Street and Seventh Avenue station on Dec. 3. Naeem Davis, 30, has been charged with second-degree murder in that case. A lawyer for Mr. Davis said his client had been trying to push Mr. Han away after an altercation.
The police said Mr. Sen was a 46-year-old immigrant who lived in Queens After years of hard work, he had finally saved enough money to open a small copying business this year on the Upper West Side.
Ar Suman, one of four roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Mr. Sen in Elmhurst, said he was driving a client upstate when another roommate called and told him what had happened. Mr. Suman raced back to the city, only to find there was nothing he could do.
“He was a very educated person and quite nice,” Mr. Suman said. “It is unbelievable. He never had a problem with anyone.”
Mr. Sen’s roommates could not understand what might have led to the fatal encounter on Thursday. “This guy is so quiet, so gentle, so nice,” said M. D. Khan, a taxi driver who also lives in the apartment.
Source.
She murdered someone for a racial/religious reason and had the sense to run away after killing him. I see nothing mentally ill about this. I see everything hateful about this.