Flatbush Man Charged In Subway Hate Crime Attack

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A Flatbush man has been charged for allegedly shouting anti-gay slurs and punching a woman on the subway in May, prosecutors said.

Antoine Thomas, 27, got on a Brooklyn-bound Q train at Union Square on May 21 and sat down next to a woman and her girlfriend, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

Thomas shouted "anti-gay slurs" during their train ride and "at one point aggressively bumped into the victim when the train made a sudden stop," the D.A.'s office said.

When the train got to the Dekalb Avenue stop in Downtown Brooklyn, Thomas punched the woman in the face, the D.A.'s office said.

Thomas then tried to leave the train by walking between cars but was caught after the train conductor called police, according to the office.

Thomas was charged with second-degree assault as a hate crime, third-degree assault as a hate crime and other related offenses.

"Brooklyn is a model of inclusion and diversity where bias and bigotry will not be tolerated," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Gonzalez said. "This defendant’s alleged actions were an attack on everyone’s right to be who they are, and to love whom they choose. He will now be held accountable for this alleged attack that left a woman unconscious."