Police are looking for a man who was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat in connection with a possible hate crime.
The man reportedly assaulted another man on a subway platform Friday night, NYPD said.
“WANTED: Black male wearing a red hat and red shirt both with the words ‘Make America Great Again,’ blue overalls, a black ¾ jacket, and jewelry around his neck,” the department said on Saturday. “Wanted for assaulting a male on the 4 train platform in Union Square. Call #800577TIPS.”
Around 8:15 p.m. on Friday, the man got into an argument with a 24-year-old Hispanic man, police said, while on a northbound 4 train.
The suspect made derogatory racial comments about that Hispanic man’s ethnicity. He is believed to have accused “‘Mexicans’ of coming to the country to bring drugs and take jobs,” NBC reported.
The suspect then followed the victim when he got off the train at Union Square/14th Street and punched the Hispanic man in the head “multiple times” while still on the 4 train platform, police said.
WANTED: Black male wearing a red hat and red shirt both with the words “Make America Great Again” , blue overalls, a black ¾ jacket, and jewelry around his neck. Wanted for assaulting a male on the 4 train platform in Union Square. Call #800577TIPS pic.twitter.com/FliEXrrxNZ
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 22, 2018
The suspect then pushed the victim onto the tracks before fleeing the scene to a Brooklyn-bound L Train.
The victim’s friend and another bystander helped him up off of the train tracks. That man was taken by EMS to an area hospital where he was treated for cuts to his head from when he fell onto the tracks.
Police describe the suspect as a black male with a dark complexion and heavy build who was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, a red shirt with the same phrase in white letters, blue overalls a black jacket and jewelry around his neck.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). All calls are confidential, and the public can also submit tips on the Crime Stoppers Website or by texting CRIMES (274637) then entering TIP577.
