This story just came across my Twitter feed: http://manhattan.ny1.com/...
There won't be much substance to this diary because I'm at a loss for words. I just want to curl up in my bed and weep.
WTF is happening to our country? Have we gone mad?
At ZedMont's request, I'm adding contact info for the NYC Taxi Worker's Alliance:
New York Taxi Worker's Alliance
250 5th Avenue, Suite 310
New York, NY 10001
http://www.nytwa.org/...
This is all that's being reported right now:
A city cab driver is in the hospital after being stabbed by a passenger who allegedly asked if he was Muslim, police tell NY1.
Investigators with the New York City Police Department say it all began Monday night when a 21-year-old man hailed a cab at 24th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan.
Police say the passenger asked the driver, "Are you Muslim?" When the driver said yes the passenger pulled a knife and slashed him in the throat, arm and lip.
The 43-year-old driver was able to lock the passenger in the back of the cab and call 911.
Both the driver and the passenger were taken to Bellevue Hospital.
As of late Tuesday, no charges had been filed.
If anyone has additional information, please post it and I'll be happy to update the diary with it.
I feel like a stiff drink. Too bad I'm on chemo and can't consume alcohol. Weeping it is then.
Update: H/T to Scarce for posting this information:
Details confirmed (2+ / 0-)
Late Update: Our reporter Eric Lach just spoke to the NYPD. They confirmed the key details of the story and said the attack will be charged as 2nd degree attempted murder and a hate crime. The suspect in the case is Michael Enright, 21. Full report soon.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
by Scarce on Wed Aug 25, 2010 at 11:43:01 AM EDT
Update 2: More details have begun to emerge from TPM:
According to Detective Marc Nell, at 6:12 pm last night, the driver picked up Michael Enright, 21, of Brewster, NY, at the intersection of 24th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. The cab proceeded to drive north, and Enright asked the driver, who Nell identified as a 43-year-old Asian male, if he was Muslim. After the driver responded that he was, Enright allegedly stabbed him repeatedly with a Leatherman tool, according to police.
"[Enright] stabbed the driver in the throat, right arm, left forearm, right thumb and upper lip," Nell said.
According to police, the driver called 911, and stopped the cab on 3rd Avenue between 40th and 41st streets, managing to lock Enright inside until police arrived.
Nell told TPM that the cab driver is in stable condition, and that Enright has been charged with "attempted murder two as a hate crime, assault with a weapon as a hate crime, aggravated harassment second degree because of race and religion, and criminal possession of a weapon."
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmem...
Based on the number of times the poor cab driver was stabbed (sounds like mostly defensive wounds), it seems to me this Michael Enright was out to kill him. I hope he gets the swift and complete justice he deserves.
Update 3: (H/T to "the OTHER rasmussen") NY Daily News reports the victim's name is Ahmed Sharif who has released a statement through the Taxi Workers Alliance:
"I feel very sad," Sharif said, according to a statement released by the Taxi Workers Alliance. "I have been here more than 25 years. I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All four of my kids were born here."
Sharif, who was slashed in the throat, upper lip, arm and hand, said he believes the battle over the Ground Zero mosque has inflamed anti-Muslim sentiment in America.
"I never feel this hopeless and insecure before," the Queens man said in the statement. "Right now, the public sentiment is very serious (because of the Ground Zero mosque debate). All [taxi] drivers should be more careful."
Seems the attacker, Enright, was drunk:
Enright, of Brewster, was "very, very intoxicated" when he hailed Sharif's yellow cab shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, a police source said.
and I'm guessing his defense will be "the booze made me do it." Although he seems to have had the clarity of mind to manipulate Mr. Sharif and think about the attack:
According to the Taxi Workers Alliance, Enright was friendly when he first got into the cab, asking Sharif where he was from, how long had he been in America and whether he was Muslim.
After his initial flurry of questions, Enright grew silent for several minutes before suddenly attacking the unsuspecting Sharif in Murray Hill, according to the union.
Cops said Enright whipped out the knife from his multi-gadget Leatherman tool. He reached through the partially open plastic barrier separating the front seat from the back and repeatedly stabbed Sharif.
The article also says Enright is undergoing a psych eval at Bellevue, and Mr. Sharif was treated and released. Thank God he's ok.
Update 4: Beginning to get some information on Enright's background (H/T to Corporate Dog and jdawg1077)
Enright is a 2007 graduate of Brewster High School who was profiled in The Journal News earlier this year while attending the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
The story focused on Enright's attempts to get embedded in Afghanistan with a Marine Corps Company of which his high school friend, Cpl. Alex Eckner, was a member, in order to make a documentary.
Enright also worked with Intersections International, a Manhattan-based, multifaith and multicultural effort that seeks to promote justice and peace.
According to The New York Post, Enright told police he had been working for an Internet media company and had recently spent time with a combat unit in Afghanistan filming military exercises.
http://www.lohud.com/...
Interesting background considering the crime. Although, from the NY Post, seems he's got a longstanding drinking problem:
Enright has had run-ins with the law in the past.
He was charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct last year and sentenced to a day in jail.
In 2008, he received two summonses for underage drinking.
Update 5: Salon has some additional background info on Enright including footage/trailer of his film Home of the Brave
The New York Post has this disturbing account of the dialogue between the two men and ultimate attack by Enright:
While the two engaged in a conversation, Enright asked the driver, Sharif Ahmed, "Are you Muslim?"
Ahmed, 43, of Queens, responded, "Yes," according to the source.
At one point, Enright said, "Al salaam aalaykum" -- the Arabic greeting meaning, "Peace upon you."
Ahmed replied, "Wa alaikum salaam" -- meaning, "And on you be peace!"
As the cab neared east 41st Street, about a block away from Enright's destination at 42nd Street and Third Avenue, he barked, "This is the checkpoint motherf---er. I have to f--- you up this time."
That's when Enright allegedly pulled out a silver-colored folding knife and slashed Ahmed in the throat, arm and face through the partition.
Note the reference to "this is the checkpoint..." and "I have to f--- you up this time." Perhaps Enright witnessed or experienced something while he was filming in Afghanistan, and somehow that experience, the incitement over the proposed Park 51 cultural center/mosque, and the booze caused him to flip? Who knows. Whatever the reason, I certainly don't condone what he did and as I've said before, I hope he gets swift and just punishment for attempting to kill someone just because he is Muslim.
I think the NY Post's account of Mr. Enright's escape and subsequent capture clears up all the discrepancies in the various reports:
Ahmed was briefly able to lock the man in the cab, but Enright was able to open the door and run off.
The driver ran after Enright and was able to flag a police officer on patrol along Third Avenue, who spotted him sitting in the middle of the street blocking traffic.
Update 6: H/T to Kristina40 for linking to this Rawstory report which includes the Press Release from the Taxi Workers Alliance:
Ahmed H. Sharif, 43, a yellow taxi cab driver slashed across the neck, face and shoulders by a passenger during an anti-Muslim hate crime will stand with fellow New York Taxi Workers Alliance members, and community, immigrant and Muslim organizations to call for an end to the bigotry and anti-Islamic rhetoric in the debate around the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center, referred to as the Ground Zero Mosque. "I feel very sad. I have been here more than 25 years. I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All my four kids were born here. I never feel this hopeless and insecure before," said Mr. Sharif. "Right now, the public sentiment is very serious (because of the Ground Zero Mosque debate.) All drivers should be more careful."
On Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 Mr. Sharif picked up the perpetrator at 24th Street and Second Avenue, his first fare for the shift, and headed toward Times Square. The man, 21, started out friendly, asking Mr. Sharif about where he was from, how long he had been in America, if he was Muslim and if he was observing fast during Ramadan. He then first became silent for a few minutes and then suddenly started cursing and screaming.
There, at about 6:15pm at Third Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets, he yelled, "Assalamu Alaikum. Consider this a checkpoint," and then slashed Mr. Sharif across the neck. As Mr. Sharif went to knock the knife out, the perpetrator, continuing to scream loudly, cut the taxi driver in the face (from nose to upper lip), arm and hand.
"While a minority of has-been politicians spew ignorance and fear, it's the working person on the street who has to face the consequences," said NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai. "This kind of bigotry only breeds more violence and makes taxi drivers all the more vulnerable on the streets where there are no bully pulpits or podiums to hide behind." The US Department of Labor reports taxi drivers to be thirty times more likely to be killed on the job than other workers.
The 13,000-member NYTWA called on the District Attorney to be vigilant in its prosecution of the attempted murder and hate crime and urged the Governor to sign the Taxi Driver Protection Act, passed by the state legislature on June 26th, 2010, increasing penalties on crimes against taxi drivers and requiring a sign in all taxis, "WARNING: Assaulting a Taxi Driver is Punishable by Up to Twenty-Five Years in Prison." "Maybe if the warning sign was there, this kind of stranger who comes to us with hatred would have to think twice," said Anwar Hossain. "At least we could feel safer and not alone. No matter what political issue is going on, at least we could be treated as equal Americans and feel protected."
This will be my final update, but please feel free continue posting information in the comments as it becomes available.
Thanks to all who helped to flesh out the particulars of this horrific crime. I've had MSNBC on for several hours now and not a peep about this incident. Only reports of Miss Phillipines, Lindsay Lohan and Sarah Palin's star power.
Final, final update: Great way to end this diary:
Anti-Islam Ads Removed from Chicago Taxis
A series of controversial ads targeting Islam will be removed from a fleet of Yellow Cab taxis.
The ads were sponsored by a group called "Stop Islamization of America," which claims the U.S. is under attack by Islamic law, reports the Chicago Tribune. The group is also a strong opponent of plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City.
[snip]
Yellow Cab CEO Michael Levine had the signs removed because he said they were offensive to the city's Muslim taxi drivers, reports the Chicago Tribune.
A big thanks to Catte Nappe for bringing it to my attention, and kudos to Michael Levine for doing the right thing and pushing back on the haters - something we must all do.
Peace.
Couple late updates:
For those of you with the stomachs, there's a photo of Mr. Sharif being treated for his injuries at Bellevue on the Jack & Jill Politics web site (h/t to Tulip) and some add'l reporting and commentary here: http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/...
From Keith Olbermann tonight:
The New York City Taxi Workers' Alliance, along with Mr. Sharif, will hold a news conference tomorrow morning to call for an end to the bigotry and anti-Islamic rhetoric in the debate around the Park 51 Islamic cultural center.
Keith also showed a couple photos of Michael Enright at his arraignment. He honestly looks like a kid scared out of his wits. <sigh> You know how Republicans like to claim everything is a "referendum on Obama"? I hope this case becomes a referendum on them and their hatemongering.
Here are the two clips from Countdown tonight in which Keith Olbermann dealt with this issue. In the second clip, he interviews Donna Marsh O'Connor, co-founder of the Sept. 11 Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow, a gentle, lovely, eloquent woman who reminds us that, "Democracy lives in our actions...not in our entitlements." Profound words.