American arrested for hate crime after attacking Sikh teenager in New York
Christopher Philippeaux was arrested for punching the victim in his face, back and in the back of his head, causing cuts and pain after criticising the turban.
A young American man with a crime record has been arrested and charged with a hate crime in the US for attacking a Sikh teenager on a bus in New York for wearing a turban.
Christopher Philippeaux was arrested on Thursday over the attack near the 118th Street and Liberty Avenue in Queens on October 15, CBS News reported.
Police said Philippeaux, 26, approached the 19-year-old Sikh male and remarked, after pointing to his turban: "We don't wear that in this country.” He asked the teen to take his mask off.
The suspect then punched the victim in his face, back and in the back of his head, causing cuts and pain.
Police said the man also tried to remove the turban from the head of the teen before getting off the bus and running away.
Victim shaken
The Sikh said he was “shaken and angered” by the assault and that no one should be harassed because of how they look.
"Right now, the victim is very traumatized," ABC News quoted community activist Japneet Singh as saying. "The family is very scared for him."
Though he refused treatment at the scene, Japneet Singh says the victim was injured badly and he won't be able to work for the next few days.
Records show Philippeaux was conditionally released on parole in July 2021 after serving more than two years in state prison for a Manhattan attempted robbery conviction, the New York Daily News said.
He has other arrests, most recently for obstructing governmental administration in Brooklyn last month, police said.
A New York bus company official, Shanifah Rieara, said: "I watched the video and I was angry, I was outraged... New York City is a melting pot and it's from my understanding that this gentleman has only been here for about a year, and this is not how we welcome people to our city."
(With agency inputs)
