NYPD investigating subway attack as anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crime

Brooklyn, NY – Police are searching for a suspect wanted in connection with an early-morning assault being investigated as a hate crime at the Lorimer Street subway station in Williamsburg.

According to the NYPD, the incident occurred around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 18, 2026. A 24-year-old man was riding a northbound L train when an unidentified individual approached him and began making anti-LGBTQIA+ statements.

When the train reached the Lorimer Street station, the suspect followed the victim off the train and displayed a knife before punching him repeatedly in the head and body. The attacker then fled the scene on another northbound L train, police said.

The victim sustained bruising and swelling but declined medical attention at the scene. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating, and detectives are reviewing surveillance footage from the subway station to identify the suspect.

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