Video of a recent subway attack went viral last week, prompting a quick response from the police. At the weekend, the NYPD announced that the attacker had been apprehended, crediting assistance from the public in his capture.
In reality, the public did nothing during the attack – and very little afterwards. In what could probably be described a sign of our times, bystanders snapped up their phones and started recording as a grown man brutally kicked a 78-year-old woman sitting down in one of the subway cars. They even provided a chorus of “oohs” and “aahs” as he kept kicking her to the head and body, but not a single one stepped to stop him. Neither did they call the police.
The New York Times notes that one of these bystanders only called the police after the train stopped in the following station, the attack happening in the Nereid Avenue station in the Bronx. The attacker calmly got off the train, without a single glance back at the woman he had just assaulted, as the video at the bottom of the page also shows.
On Saturday, the NYPD had 36-year-old Mac Gomez in custody, after receiving an anonymous tip about his whereabouts. He’s been charged with several counts of felony assault, and it has emerged that his priors include criminal possession of a loaded firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon from a November 2018 arrest.
Speaking with The Times, his fiancee says that, despite what it looks like on camera, Gomez didn’t just pick out the elderly woman from the crowd and attacked her. She had been, in fact, threatening and stalking her family, so he went to confront her and “lost her temper.” He is otherwise “not a bad person,” she insists, and actually felt guilty about what he’d done after he got off the train. However, he didn’t feel guilty enough to turn himself in.
As of Saturday, the video of the attack had over 10 million views. Just as guilty as the attacker are those who watch and do nothing, the court of public opinion has ruled.
The New York Times notes that one of these bystanders only called the police after the train stopped in the following station, the attack happening in the Nereid Avenue station in the Bronx. The attacker calmly got off the train, without a single glance back at the woman he had just assaulted, as the video at the bottom of the page also shows.
On Saturday, the NYPD had 36-year-old Mac Gomez in custody, after receiving an anonymous tip about his whereabouts. He’s been charged with several counts of felony assault, and it has emerged that his priors include criminal possession of a loaded firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon from a November 2018 arrest.
Speaking with The Times, his fiancee says that, despite what it looks like on camera, Gomez didn’t just pick out the elderly woman from the crowd and attacked her. She had been, in fact, threatening and stalking her family, so he went to confront her and “lost her temper.” He is otherwise “not a bad person,” she insists, and actually felt guilty about what he’d done after he got off the train. However, he didn’t feel guilty enough to turn himself in.
As of Saturday, the video of the attack had over 10 million views. Just as guilty as the attacker are those who watch and do nothing, the court of public opinion has ruled.
The subject wanted for the brutal subway attack of an elderly woman IS IN CUSTODY. The victim was treated & released from the hospital & is getting the care, advocacy & support needed. Thank you to the worldwide community for the tremendous assistance. Add’l details to follow. pic.twitter.com/W4rFRDeuq2
— Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) March 23, 2019