Local resident charged with hate crime

A Tribeca resident has been arrested and charged with a hate crime after a video of him assaulting a woman and calling her a terrorist on the subway went viral.

Gregory Kutzin, 33, allegedly called the woman a terrorist, stole a flag she was carrying and hit her in the chest.

It was reported to police that on Friday, Nov. 17, at approximately 6:15pm, the victim, a 23-year-old woman on a northbound 2 train approaching the Times Square station when she was engaged in a dispute with an unknown individual. During the dispute, the individual called the victim a terrorist and struck the victim in the chest.

When the train arrived at the station, both parties detrained. The individual then took a Palestinian flag the victim was in possession of and broke it before throwing it onto the tracks. The individual then fled in an unknown direction. The victim was uninjured in this incident.

The victim, who is Yemeni American and Muslim, told NBC News that she was on her way to a pro-Palestinian rally in Bryant Park when the man called her a “terrorist,” snatched and broke the flag she was carrying, and hit her in the chest. She said this led her to take out her phone and start recording.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force investigated and arrested Kutzin on Nov. 20; he was charged with hate crime/robbery, hate crime/assault, hate crime/grand larceny, hate crime/petit larceny, hate crime/criminal mischief, hate crime/harassment as well as assault, criminal mischief and harassment, according to a NYPD spokesperson. Kutzin was not jailed.

 

4 Comments

  1. This poor woman was attacked. Thank you for sharing the identity of a bigot in our neighborhood. I hope the young woman can continue to protest peacefully and remain safe.

  2. He was actually charged with 1 C felony, 2 E felonies and 1 misdemeanor.

    Case Details – Charges
    Case Information
    New York Criminal Court
    Case # CR-033523-23NY
    Defendant Kutzin, Gregory
    Charge Detail Disposition/Sentence
    PL 160.05 00H ** TOP CHARGE ** CF , 1 count, Hate Crime/robbery-3rd
    PL 120.00 01H EF , 1 count, Hate Cr/assault 3-cause Injury
    PL 145.00 01H EF , 1 count, Hate Crime/criminal Mischief-4
    PL 240.30 03 AM , 1 count, Agg Harass 2- Race/religion

  3. Glad he was caught. And very disturbing that it took the video going viral for the police to do something about it.

  4. I guess I didn’t see the whole video. Looks like she was verbally abusing him

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