NYC man charged with anti-gay hate crimes for allegedly punching lesbian on the subway

Richard Taylor, 28, of Canarsie, Brooklyn, has been charged with the following hate crimes: menacing, aggravated harassment, strangulation, assault, and harassment, according to the New York Daily News.

Court documents state that Taylor allegedly carried out two anti-gay hate crime attacks on Aug. 25 and Oct. 24.

During the Aug. 25 incident, Taylor allegedly punched and strangled a 23-year-old woman aboard a Q train near the Utica Ave. station in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He reportedly screamed "You're a f*gg*t" before attacking her, police said.

On Sept. 9, NYPD released a photo of the suspect and asked for help identifying the man who would later be revealed to be Taylor.

During the Oct. 24 incident, Taylor allegedly sat next to another 23-year-old woman and accused her of being gay as he declared that he was "a god" before threatening her in a B46 bus in Flatlands.

"You're gay. You're a girl wearing male clothes. You're a f*gg*t. I'm a god, man, and you're the devil," he told the victim, according to court documents.

Taylor then allegedly spat on the victim twice, according to the criminal complaint, and showed her a key between his knuckles and said to her, "I will cut you."

Authorities arrested Taylor on Tuesday and booked him into jail. He was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Wednesday and is being held on a $40,000 bond.

The outlet reports that Taylor was also charged with reckless endangerment in 2020 for an incident that occurred on a D train in which he yelled, "I'm tired of people f*cking with me," as he ran through the train.

Violent crime is common on New York City's public transit subway systems which has been the center of brutal attacks at the hands of repeat offenders who are often homeless. Within the past two years, 37 people have been violently shoved onto the tracks and since 2021 transit crime has increased by 29 percent, according to Fox News.