A man accused of carrying out a string of anti-Asian attacks in New York is now in police custody.
Clive Porter, 33, was arrested after he allegedly punched a man on a subway platform on Wednesday, shouting an anti-Asian slur as he fled. The victim, a 45-year-old man, fell onto the tracks and was treated at the scene for a swollen eye.
Officers later found Porter nearby, and he assaulted and spat at police during his arrest, police said. Porter was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, where he reportedly headbutted an officer, causing a concussion.
Porter was charged with assault as a hate crime, multiple counts of assault on a police officer, harassment, and reckless endangerment. Investigators said he is also suspected in several other assaults and robberies targeting Asian victims earlier the same day on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Police said Porter has a lengthy criminal record, including prior hate-crime arrests.
The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday welcomed news of the arrest.
In a statement, CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said the arrest was “a first step” and urged that the case address both “the violence born of bigotry” and any underlying mental health issues.
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