A Brooklyn woman was arrested Tuesday for assaulting subway riders during the morning commute — hitting them with an umbrella and keys and kicking them — and using racial slurs.
A video recorded by Juan Ayala that has been viewed nearly 5 million times begins with a woman, whom police identified as 40-year-old Anna Lushchinskaya, removing her sunglasses, pulling her hair up in a ponytail, and removing an umbrella and set of keys from her purse.
Video then shows Lushchinskaya hurling her umbrella and keys toward a younger woman while yelling "Fuck off." Other passengers try to break up the argument, urging Lushchinskaya to "chill out." One passenger yells, "She's not even fighting you back."
The NYPD said in a statement that the altercation began when Lushchinskaya bumped into the victim.
Genesis Tolentino, who was on the D train heading to Manhattan Tuesday morning, told BuzzFeed News the train was packed.
"It's Tuesday morning. Everyone wants to get to work. I know I wanted to get to work, and at that point [the incident] delayed everyone," Tolentino told BuzzFeed News. "You're getting mad over the train being packed. Just brush it off and go about your day."
So this happened yesterday #mta #36st #nyc
Matters escalated when Lushchinskaya then spit at a passenger, adding, "Fuck off, fucking chink."
The video shows passengers erupting in anger, with one person telling her, "you are a disgrace to all white people."
The train was around Sunset Park, a neighborhood with a high Asian population, Tolentino told BuzzFeed News.
"When you bring up race, that just changes everything. And it upset me," Tolentino said. "To me, there's only one race and that's the human race, and you should be more accepting of it."
@PlatanoMan
Video captured by Genesis Tolentino shows Lushchinskaya yelling at Ayala — the man also recording the incident — asking him, "What are you, her attorney? You piece of shit, fucking Mohamed Atta?" referencing one of the 9/11 hijackers.
"What? Bitch, I'm Dominican," Ayala responds.
Lushchinskaya then knocks Ayala's phone out of his hand, and he responds by tackling her to the ground to restrain her until the police arrive. Ayala did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment.
Then she tried me so I had to detain her until the cops showed up 🤦🏾♂️
Lushchinskaya was charged with menacing in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon, attempted assault, menacing, and harassment, according to a criminal complaint from the Brooklyn district attorney's office.
According to the complaint and a statement from the NYPD, the victim received scratches on her hands and face.
The victim had "scratches to [her] face and hands and caused [her] to fear imminent physical injury and to become alarmed and annoyed," the criminal complaint reads.
Lushchinskaya's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.