Woman charged with "murder as a hate crime"
andyt @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:59 am
$1:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman suspected of shoving a man to his death in front of an oncoming New York subway train was arrested on Saturday and charged with "second-degree murder as a hate crime" in the second such fatality this month for one of the world's busiest transit systems.
The district attorney for the New York City borough of Queens said Erika Menendez, 31, who was seen pacing the subway platform and muttering to herself before the attack, had told investigators that she pushed the victim, Sunando Sen, 46, on Thursday because "I hate Hindus and Muslims."
Menendez was taken into custody in Brooklyn by authorities acting on a tip from someone who recognized the suspect from video of the incident that was aired on television, a spokeswoman for the district attorney told Reuters.
"The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare - being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train," District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
"Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant's actions can never be tolerated in a civilized society," he said.
The prosecutor's statement quoted Menendez as telling investigators: "I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up."
Her alleged admission was an apparent reference to the September 11, 2001, attack on Manhattan's World Trade Center by Muslim extremists who flew two hijacked jetliners into the twin towers.
Brown's statement gave no indication of the victim's ethnicity or religion or Menendez might have taken Sen to be a Muslim.
The spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, Meris Campbell, said she did not believe the victim was wearing any clothing that would have led someone to identify him as being a Muslim.
Menendez is awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging her with second-degree murder as a hate crime, an offense that carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life in prison. The minimum penalty for second-degree murder alone is 15 years to life, Campbell said.
If convicted, Menendez could face a maximum penalty of 25 years to life.
Witnesses told police a woman appeared to be mumbling and pacing Thursday evening before she approached an unsuspecting man from behind on the platform of an elevated station in the borough of Queens.
She then shoved him onto the subway track as the train pulled into the station, witnesses said. Brown said Sen died of multiple blunt-force trauma.
After shoving Sen on Thursday, the suspect ran from the station to the street in a scene caught on surveillance video footage that police released on Friday as they searched for her.
Sen's death was the second this month of a New York subway rider pushed onto the tracks of the city's more than 100-year-old subway system.
On December 3, Ki-Suck Han was killed after being shoved onto subway tracks in Manhattan as a train entered a station near Times Square. A suspect, Naeem Davis, has been charged with second-degree murder. Authorities have disclosed a possible motive.
Including Thursday's incident, 139 people have been struck by New York City subway trains so far in 2012, and 54 of them died, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman said on Friday. He said the tally was preliminary and subject to change.
The district attorney for the New York City borough of Queens said Erika Menendez, 31, who was seen pacing the subway platform and muttering to herself before the attack, had told investigators that she pushed the victim, Sunando Sen, 46, on Thursday because "I hate Hindus and Muslims."
Menendez was taken into custody in Brooklyn by authorities acting on a tip from someone who recognized the suspect from video of the incident that was aired on television, a spokeswoman for the district attorney told Reuters.
"The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare - being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train," District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
"Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant's actions can never be tolerated in a civilized society," he said.
The prosecutor's statement quoted Menendez as telling investigators: "I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up."
Her alleged admission was an apparent reference to the September 11, 2001, attack on Manhattan's World Trade Center by Muslim extremists who flew two hijacked jetliners into the twin towers.
Brown's statement gave no indication of the victim's ethnicity or religion or Menendez might have taken Sen to be a Muslim.
The spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, Meris Campbell, said she did not believe the victim was wearing any clothing that would have led someone to identify him as being a Muslim.
Menendez is awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging her with second-degree murder as a hate crime, an offense that carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life in prison. The minimum penalty for second-degree murder alone is 15 years to life, Campbell said.
If convicted, Menendez could face a maximum penalty of 25 years to life.
Witnesses told police a woman appeared to be mumbling and pacing Thursday evening before she approached an unsuspecting man from behind on the platform of an elevated station in the borough of Queens.
She then shoved him onto the subway track as the train pulled into the station, witnesses said. Brown said Sen died of multiple blunt-force trauma.
After shoving Sen on Thursday, the suspect ran from the station to the street in a scene caught on surveillance video footage that police released on Friday as they searched for her.
Sen's death was the second this month of a New York subway rider pushed onto the tracks of the city's more than 100-year-old subway system.
On December 3, Ki-Suck Han was killed after being shoved onto subway tracks in Manhattan as a train entered a station near Times Square. A suspect, Naeem Davis, has been charged with second-degree murder. Authorities have disclosed a possible motive.
Including Thursday's incident, 139 people have been struck by New York City subway trains so far in 2012, and 54 of them died, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman said on Friday. He said the tally was preliminary and subject to change.
Brenda @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:04 am
Glad they got her. WTF.
Foxer @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:09 pm
Wow. Just hard to imagine there are people like that out there. Glad they got that one off the street. I wonder how many others she's assaulted or killed where she didn't get caught.
desertdude @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:18 pm
Not really too hard to imagine people like that, some posters here have shown extreme prejudice and bigotry themselves, she was a few levels higher up on the crazy ladder.
Brenda @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:20 pm
desertdude desertdude:
Not really too hard to imagine people like that, some posters here have shown extreme prejudice and bigotry themselves, she was a few levels higher up on the crazy ladder.
xerxes @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:04 pm
Sounds like another Fox News viewer.
rickc @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:59 am
Fox news has nothing to do with this story. This woman probably does'nt even know how to operate a tv remote control. This story (like several other ones lately),has every thing to do with a complete failure of America's mental health system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/nyreg ... .html?_r=0
This women has spent her entire life being bounced between mental institutions. She has beeen arrested variuos times for assaulting complete strangers for no reason whatsoever. Her own family has called law enforcement numerous times because they cannot control her violent behavior. This woman had no business being on the street. I would be very surprised if this woman is found competent to stand trial. She was laughing hystericlly at her arraignment. She does'nt even know where she is. A man is dead. I feel the lions share of the blame belongs on the State of New York. They completely dropped the ball on this one.
xerxes @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:08 am
rickc rickc:
Fox news has nothing to do with this story. This woman probably does'nt even know how to operate a tv remote control. This story (like several other ones lately),has every thing to do with a complete failure of America's mental health system.
$1:
An Indiana man convicted of setting fire to a mosque in Ohio told a judge on Wednesday that he committed the crimes because Fox News and conservative talk radio had convinced him that “most Muslims are terrorists.”
Randolph Linn, 52, accepted a plea deal in which he pled guilty to all charges in connection to setting a fire in the prayer room at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on Sept. 30. Under the deal, Linn is expected to serve 20 years in prison instead of 40.
Linn explained to the court that he had gotten “riled up” after watching Fox News.
“And I was more sad when Judge [Jack] Zouhary asked him that, ‘Do you know any Muslims or do you know what Islam is?’” one mosque member who attended the hearing recalled to WNWO. “And he said, ‘No, I only know what I hear on Fox News and what I hear on radio.’”
“Muslims are killing Americans and trying to blow stuff up,” Linn also reportedly told the judge. “Most Muslims are terrorists and don’t believe in Jesus Christ.”
Linn claimed that he had consumed 45 beers in the 6 hours before leaving his Indiana home to set fire to the mosque, which he had discovered while working as a truck driver.
After his arrest on Oct. 2, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ava Dusten said that Linn had told officers, “Fuck those Muslims… They would kill us if they got the chance.”
Linn is due back in court on April 16, 2013 for a formal sentencing.
A survey released by Fairleigh Dickinson University earlier this year determined that Fox News viewers were actually less informed than Americans who watched no news at all. In fact, at least seven studies in recent years have confirmed that Fox News viewers are more likely to be misinformed than other Americans.
Raw Story [url](http://s.tt/1xuMg)[/url]
Randolph Linn, 52, accepted a plea deal in which he pled guilty to all charges in connection to setting a fire in the prayer room at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on Sept. 30. Under the deal, Linn is expected to serve 20 years in prison instead of 40.
Linn explained to the court that he had gotten “riled up” after watching Fox News.
“And I was more sad when Judge [Jack] Zouhary asked him that, ‘Do you know any Muslims or do you know what Islam is?’” one mosque member who attended the hearing recalled to WNWO. “And he said, ‘No, I only know what I hear on Fox News and what I hear on radio.’”
“Muslims are killing Americans and trying to blow stuff up,” Linn also reportedly told the judge. “Most Muslims are terrorists and don’t believe in Jesus Christ.”
Linn claimed that he had consumed 45 beers in the 6 hours before leaving his Indiana home to set fire to the mosque, which he had discovered while working as a truck driver.
After his arrest on Oct. 2, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ava Dusten said that Linn had told officers, “Fuck those Muslims… They would kill us if they got the chance.”
Linn is due back in court on April 16, 2013 for a formal sentencing.
A survey released by Fairleigh Dickinson University earlier this year determined that Fox News viewers were actually less informed than Americans who watched no news at all. In fact, at least seven studies in recent years have confirmed that Fox News viewers are more likely to be misinformed than other Americans.
Raw Story [url](http://s.tt/1xuMg)[/url]
rickc @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:13 am
Did you even read the link for the story? This woman in New York is a certifiable nutjob, not a skinhead. She spends her days being medicated, not watching the news.It upsets me that the government will cut every corner when it comes to dealing with mental illness, but will leave no stone unturned when it comes to prosecuting this woman. We spend a few Dollars and 10 minutes a week treating this woman for her condition.Now we will spend hundreds of thousands of Dollars to incarcerate her. We have no money for treatment, yet we have an endless supply of money for incarceration. She will not get the help she needs in prison. She might end up killing more people while she is in prison. Women who are in prison for victemless crimes like drug posession could end up facing the death penalty if they end up being in this deranged womans cellblock.
This woman in New York is mentally ill. That kid in Newtown was mentally ill. Ditto for the joker wantabe in Aurora CO. Same for that nutjob at Virginia Tech, or the shooter in Tucson. Almost all our mass shooters are mentally ill. We can debate gun control laws ad nausem. I think we have a bigger problem. The U.S. would appear to have more than thier fair share of mentally ill people. People who feel that they cannot go on any more. People who have no problem taking others out with them. People who commit suicide by cop. I don't know what provisions Obamacare has made for mental illness. I would hope that we would start spending more time addressing why we seem to have such a high level of mental illness in the States. Lets spend some more money on treatment now, and hopefully less on incarceration later.
Psudo @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:23 am
Summary:
xerxes: She sounds like a Fox News viewer.
rickc: She's not.
xerxes: But this guy was.
rickc: She's still not.
Can you spot the red herring argument?
"[T]he site is described by Newsweek as, 'Muck, raked: If you're looking for alleged GOP malfeasance, the folks at rawstory.com are frequently scooping the mainstream media.'"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raw_Story#Overview
Psudo @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:50 pm
The hate crime homicide rate is about 2.8 homicides per hundred million population per year. That's an average from 14 years of data from the FBI. This was an exceptionally unusual crime.
N_Fiddledog @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:22 pm
As far as nutty, violent, criminal behavior goes, this was not the first rodeo for Ericka Menendez. She just got out of Bellevue, and she doesn't just attack Asians.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/quee ... K9SVEelmzN
Still no news as to what if any news media she pays attention to. For all we know, she reads RawStory.
Foxer @ Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:56 pm
$1:
Still no news as to what if any news media she pays attention to
I heard she's a 'Rabble' subscriber. Just sayin'.
Jughead @ Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:46 am
My prayers go out to the victim's family members. Unfortunately all of his family members are overseas.
This was a truly horrible crime. I was following this on the news, and they were inteviewing witnesses who described the gruesome crime. Witnesses reported hearing a loud scream followed by a horrible echo after the train struck the victim. The victim remained pinned under the second subway car and officials had to use a special inflatable device to lift up the train and remove the remains from the tracks.
I have no sympathy for anyone who committs a crime of this nature, regardless of the pyschological nature of the person. This lady had also been arrested numerous times in the past. I say throw the book at her. This is the only way to provide some justice to the victim's family members.