16-year-old female charged after video of assault on Asian tourists on NYC subway goes viral

A 16-year-old girl has turned herself in to police after a video of her allegedly assaulting an elderly Asian tourist from Nevada on the subway in New York City went viral. The incident took place on Thursday night, but it wasn't until Tuesday that the girl voluntarily surrendered to authorities, and was subsequently charged with two counts of assault.

The New York Police Department originally considered the possibility that the attack had been motivated by hate, but no such charges were handed down and even the victims said they believed their race had nothing to do with being targeted.

According to the New York Post, the girl allegedly beat up 51-year-old Sue Young in front of her husband and 11-year-old twin daughters, before turning her attention to Joanna Lin, who filmed the altercation.

Young and her family were sitting across from the girl and her friends on a southbound F train near West 4 Street Thursday night when the latter group began pointing and laughing.

The tourists tried to de-escalate the situation by laughing along with them, but this only served to further anger the teens, who began approaching the family, hurling insults and threats.

Young alleged that she pushed one of the girls away, and was promptly punched multiple times.

"She grabbed my hair, I grabbed her hair, and I basically just grabbed onto her hair to shield my face because she was swinging," she explained. Young added that her glasses were thrown from her face and smashed, and her arm was bruised after it was caught between two handrails.

After noticing that Lin was filming, the girl went over and attacked her as well. Other passengers soon intervened, and the group of teens got off at the next station.
 

Lin told the Post she was "relieved that [the girl] made the decision to turn herself in," adding, "In a perfect world, I would love if she can issue an apology to myself and Sue Young, and promise to never ever do this again. I also hope she gets therapy, counseling, and mentorship needed to move up from here."