Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. has announced the indictment of Clive Porter, 34, on charges relating to a series of unprovoked anti-Asian attacks that occurred in Lower Manhattan on October 29, according to a statement from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The indictment includes Assault in the Second Degree as a Hate Crime, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree as a Hate Crime, among other serious charges; Porter is accused of targeting Asian individuals in Chinatown, assaulting five unsuspecting victims within minutes of each other, and later attacking an NYPD officer upon his arrest.
The detailed account provided by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office portrays a rapid succession of violent incidents, beginning at approximately 9:40 a.m. with the attack on an elderly Asian man resulting in a brain bleed and broken nose, the assault of a second man moments later which involved a verbal racial slur and physical violence; additionally, Porter allegedly stole an item from another individual, soon after he attacked an elderly Asian woman causing a severe head injury and rounded out his spree with an assault on a fifth victim at the Bowery subway station, who suffered multiple broken bones and required facial reconstruction surgery.
D.A. Bragg, in the indictment announcement, emphasized that every New Yorker has the right to live without fear, strenuously denouncing crimes driven by prejudice and hate, stating, "We further allege he purposefully targeted these individuals and was motivated by racial bias." Victims or witnesses to hate crimes were urged by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to report incidents to their Hate Crimes Unit Hotline.
Following his arrest, Porter is said to have inflicted harm on a police officer with a headbutt, causing substantial pain, this attack occurred less than an hour after the subway station incident, reflecting the aggressive pattern that Porter demonstrated throughout the day; Assistant D.A. Phillip Klindt is handling the case's prosecution with the Hate Crimes Unit's support, and acknowledgment was given by D.A. Bragg to NYPD members who were instrumental in the case, including officers Jason Wu and Ray Chen of the 5th Precinct and Detectives David Esparragoza and Murad Alkadi of the Hate Crimes Task Force.
