Source: Torresigner / Getty
People ain’t s#!t, exhibit #999.
According to NBC New York, a 60-year-old Black woman identified by the NYPD as Laurel Reynolds was beaten mercilessly by a 43-year-old white man named Norton Blake on an NYC subway platform in Harlem. The video has gone viral on social media partly because people love to record violence but also because people were filming instead of helping this sista fend off a devilish attacker.
We will warn you that the video is not bloody, but it is graphic and can be distressing to say the very least. Please take stock of your mental health before you press play.
As you can see in the clip, the man attempts to stab the woman with an umbrella before taking control of her walking cane and beating her repeatedly in the head, stomach, legs, arms, back, and hands. When the cane splinters, he continues to kick and punch her while she lay helpless on the dirty subway ground.
Just typing those words is infuriating. Sure, nobody wants to rumble a psycho aboard a subway train but dammit does nobody have the heart, mind, moral backbone to come to the aid of an elderly Black woman? The question is rhetorical, the answer is abundantly clear.
Other commuters who saw the video Tuesday commented on how no one seemed to intervene or offered to step in to help the woman — and not being surprised.
“People don’t get involved like they used to,” said Irene Richardson. “Thank God she’s alive. That’s a blessing in itself.”
Thoughts and prayers. Gee, thanks.
The NYPD is allegedly investigating this attack. If you have any info or can help in any way, hit NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
