Man in New York charged with hate crime after hitting a Muslim woman on the subway

New York.- A man from New York was charged with first-degree assault as a hate crime after he beat a woman apparently because of her Muslim appearance on a train car, and caused her to fracture several bones, the Queens County District Attorney's Office reported this Friday.

The attacker was identified by the Prosecutor's Office as Naved Durni, 34 years old, who, before hitting the woman, who was wearing the Muslim veil, asked her where she was from and if she was Muslim. The woman replied yes and immediately he slapped her and hit her last Wednesday aboard an E train of the city's subway, which travels between the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan. Durni, who was arrested shortly after the incident, faces several charges of assault and harassment and, if found guilty, could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, according to the Prosecutor's statement. The judge ordered that the defendant be held in prison during his arraignment on Thursday and set June 23 as the date for the next hearing.

The woman suffered a fracture of the nasal bone, another in the orbital bone, as well as bruises and swelling and was treated at a local hospital.

"Intolerance, hatred, and violence against the Muslim community or any community suffering discrimination will have serious consequences from my office," said Queens District Attorney, Melinda Katz. The Democratic mayoral nomination hopeful in the primaries of June 24, Zohran Mamdani, who describes himself as a socialist, has reported threats against him for being Muslim, and the city police are investigating.

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The Democrat reported that he has received several calls, including one from a man who threatened him and his family. In the call, the man accused him of being a "terrorist" and stated that "he is not welcome in New York or the U.S." Zohran said the threats increase his concern following the murder of a Minnesota state senator and her husband, according to the New York Times.