Man accused in 5 separate anti-Asian attacks arrested in Manhattan

New York City police arrested 33-year-old Clive Porter on Wednesday in connection with a string of five suspected anti-Asian assaults committed across the Lower East Side in less than a day.

Detectives say the spree culminated around 4 p.m. when Porter allegedly punched a 45-year-old Asian man who had just stepped off a J train at Delancey Street Station. The blow knocked the victim onto the tracks as Porter fled after reportedly shouting slurs. The man pulled himself to safety and flagged down police, sustaining cuts, bruises and a bloody nose but avoiding serious injury.

Series of daytime assaults: Prosecutors say Porter began his alleged spree at about 9:35 a.m., targeting several Asian victims in rapid succession. Within a 15-minute period, he allegedly punched or forcefully elbowed three elderly people and pickpocketed another. Police identified the victims as two men and two women, all of Asian descent, ranging in age from their 60s to their 70s. None were seriously injured, though one man suffered a broken nose and another was treated for bruising to his face.

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed solidarity with Asian American communities and called the arrest “a first step,” adding that violence “born of bigotry remains unacceptable.”

Details of arrest: Porter was arraigned Friday in Manhattan Criminal Court and remanded on charges of assault, attempted assault and grand larceny as hate crimes, along with related offenses. According to court records and police statements, he has more than 50 prior arrests and has cycled through the city’s justice system for years, often while experiencing untreated mental illness. On at least 12 previous occasions, police determined he was emotionally distressed or required psychiatric evaluation. His attorney, Joseph Payne, told the court that Porter had been prescribed psychiatric medication but lost access to it in the days before the alleged attacks.

History of prior arrests: Court documents show Porter had been referred to Brooklyn’s mental health court in 2023 after an unrelated assault case and ordered to participate in a treatment program. He has served multiple short jail sentences and was repeatedly placed in supervised release programs intended to monitor individuals with mental health challenges. His mother, a 61-year-old home health aide, said he had stayed on his medication when she last saw him days before the attacks and described him as “a nice person” who struggles when off his prescriptions. Porter remains in custody pending sentencing in a separate Brooklyn case and further hearings in Manhattan.