‘You people killed my people’: NYC parolee charged after calling Asian man slur, blaming him for ‘virus’

A woman on parole was charged on Thursday for hurling an anti-Asian slur at a young man on a subway in Manhattan last month, according to New York police.

The incident, reportedly under investigation as a hate crime, occurred on a southbound F train approaching 23rd Street station at around 6:15 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2021.

Tandika Wright, 35, allegedly approached the 26-year-old victim, hurled a racial slur and blamed his “people” for spreading “the virus.”

“Hey, are you a ch*nk? You people brought the virus here. You people killed my people,” Wright allegedly said, according to the New York Post.

Police said Wright also shoved the victim before taking off. She was arrested on Thursday and subsequently charged with aggravated harassment based on race or religion.

Wright is reportedly on parole after being convicted of attempted first-degree manslaughter. She was initially arrested on Dec. 11, 2014, for the incident in question and charged with second-degree murder.

She spent 2015 to 2019 in prison before being released on parole. Records show she was also behind bars from 2011 to 2013 for fourth-degree arson, according to the New York Post.

Before Thursday, Wright had a record of about 35 arrests. The expiration of her parole is set for March 2025.

Violence occurring in the city’s subway system has caught national attention in the past week after the unprovoked killing of homeless advocate Michelle Go. Mayor Eric Adams, who initially insisted public transportation to be safe, admitted shortly after that he himself felt unsafe while riding the subway.

Featured Image via New York Police Department

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