Overview
- The arrests came Wednesday, a week after a Feb. 19 street confrontation at West 26th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.
- Authorities say one suspect wearing a red MAGA hat tried to kiss a 54-year-old woman, then made anti-Black remarks when she pushed him away.
- Police report the men stopped the woman from leaving and used a lighter to ignite her boots, destroying the $89 footwear without causing physical injury.
- Investigators say the second man filmed the incident for a YouTube channel called "scrubsnyc," and the pair later posted videos referencing coverage of the case.
- The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is leading the investigation, and officers took the suspects into custody near Bryant Park.