The mother of a Black teen targeted in a bias attack at the Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. subway station spoke out Friday, demanding that all the teens involved be arrested for gang assault and hate crime.
“They chose the wrong Black boy because I want something done,” said irate mom Monique Whyte Friday at a press conference held at the same station where her son was attacked.
A mob of boys hurled a banana and racial slurs at the 16-year-old victim Monday morning as he headed to school, mocking him with the N-word and striking him in the head.
The hateful group then repeatedly began punching and kicking him, police said.
They also stole one of his sneakers, cops said, then ran off. The sneaker was later found in the station.
Whyte said she usually drives her son to school, but the morning of the incident, he took the train. She later got a call from her son, who said “Mommy, I was jumped,” said the mom.
“It’s a hate crime, they threw bananas,” Whyte said. “These thugs are terrorizing Black children.”
A 16-year-old was arrested for the attack and charged Thursday with robbery and assault as a hate crime, as well as gang assault, police said. A 14-year-old was also taken into custody but later released.
The NYPD did not disclose the name of the 16-year-old suspect because of his age. The department’s Hate Crime Task Force is still looking for the teen’s accomplices.
Video of the attack was posted on Instagram but was later taken down, a police source said.
Civil rights activist Rev. Kevin McCall blamed the police and what he describes as insufficient patrol.
“Where were they on Monday morning when this kid gets brutally beaten?” asked McCall. “Were they worried about fare evasion? They should have been worried about protecting New Yorkers.”
McCall said members of the clergy would begin to patrol the Stillwell station.
“If the police won’t do it, we will.”
The victim’s sister told the Daily News Thursday there were five or more kids who attacked her brother.
“He doesn’t know nothing about these kids,” said the sister, who asked not to be named. “He’s fine physically, but he’s messed up mentally. Thank God he wasn’t seriously hurt.”
No other arrests have been made as of Friday morning, said police.
With Rocco Parasacandola