New Yorkers have rallied around a woman who was seriously injured in a hate crime attack inside a Brooklyn subway station last month, raising more than $10,000 to help her pay her medical expenses.
Ann Marie Washington was on her way home from work around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 9 when a man walked up to her in the Church Avenue station at 18th Street in Flatbush and started punching her in the face and back, according to elected officials. He then called her a racial slur and ran off, officials said.
Police released a sketch of the suspect a few days after the attack, which is being investigated by the department’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
Washington, a native of Trinidad, initially thought she suffered a cut in her mouth, according to police. It wasn’t until she returned home that she realized she’d been stabbed.
Washington was rushed to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and had to have a chest tube put in, according to her daughter, Tisha Washington.
As police continued to look for the suspect, Washington racked up hefty medical bills, her children said.
In an effort to help the struggling family, activist Anthony Beckford teamed up with State Sen. Jesse Hamilton and other community stakeholders to launch a GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising $10,000 for her medical bills and other expenses. Less than a month later, the group surpassed its goal, raising at least $10,350.
Hamilton on Tuesday thanked everyone who donated, but cautioned that Washington’s fight was not yet over since the suspect remained on the loose.
“We are determined to get justice for Ms. Washington. How can a hate crime like this go unpunished?” Hamilton said. “How can Brooklyn rest while a person with hate in his heart and a sharp object in his hand walks freely. Who will be his next victim?”
Hamilton called on Brooklyn residents to rally together against hate crimes.
With Alison Fox
