FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Brooklyn Man Indicted for Assault as a Hate Crime for
Alleged Sexual and Violent Attack Against Trans Woman in Subway
Allegedly Groped, Slapped and Punched Victim After Using Homophobic Slur
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 22-year-old Brooklyn man has been arraigned on an indictment charging him of assault as a hate crime and other charges for an alleged unprovoked attack against a trans woman inside a subway station and car.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Every person in our city deserves to safely use the subway, no matter their gender identity or expression. This defendant allegedly groped an innocent individual and then violently attacked her. We will continue to vigorously prosecute violent people and defend the rights of every member of Brooklyn’s LGBTQ community.”
The District Attorney identified the defendants as Ian Williams, 22, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime, third-degree assault, third-degree menacing as a hate crime, forcible touching and other related counts. He was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond and to return to court on November 1, 2023. The defendant is facing a maximum sentence of up to four years if convicted of the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on August 17, 2023, at 1 p.m. the defendant and the 22-year-old victim were waiting for the J-train at the Myrtle Avenue Station in Bed-Stuy. The defendant allegedly made a sexually suggestive gesture at the victim and then grabbed her buttocks. When confronted by the victim, he threatened her and called her a f—-t, according to the investigation.
Both entered the Manhattan-bound J-train and the victim asked the defendant why he groped her and used that slur. The defendant then allegedly slapped the victim, punched her repeatedly and threw her to the floor. Bystanders pulled him away and he moved to another car.
The victim was treated for a broken nose at Lennox Hill Hospital.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Samantha Perlstein, of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Shane Kaliszewski, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, Hate Crimes Bureau Chief..
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt