Erika Menendez was charged in the death of
Sunando Sen, an immigrant from India who was crushed by a No. 7 train
in Queens on Thursday night, the second time this month a commuter has
died in such a nightmarish fashion. (AFP)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. NEW YORK
A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway
platform into the path of a train because she has hated Muslims since
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and thought he was one was charged
Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said.
Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, an immigrant
from India who was crushed by a No. 7 train in Queens on Thursday night,
the second time this month a commuter has died in such a nightmarish
fashion.
Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge Saturday evening,
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. She could face 25 years
to life in prison if convicted. She was in custody and couldn’t be
reached for comment, and it was unclear if she had an attorney.
Menendez, who was arrested after a tip by a passer-by who saw her on a
street and thought she looked like the woman in a surveillance video
released by police, admitted shoving Sen, who was pushed from behind,
authorities said.
“I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and
Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been
beating them up,” Menendez told police, according to the district
attorney’s office.
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