Brooklyn man may be brain dead after unprovoked hate attack in Union Square

[hrmjustin]

By Shayna Jacobs AND Thomas Tracy / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A black man yelled “I’m going to punch the first white man I see!” moments before he dropped an innocent man with a haymaker in Union Square, putting the victim in a coma, authorities said.

Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, who is white, happened to be visiting Union Square about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when Lashawn Marten bashed him with a fist of racist rage, police sources said.

The unprovoked punch knocked Babbitt backward, and he hit his head on the ground. Doctors fear he may be brain dead.

“The prognosis is not good and it does appear that the victim will likely die,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney John Temple said at Marten’s arraignment Thursday.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn-man-brain-dead-unprovoked-hate-attack-union-square-article-1.1448520#ixzz2eEQUKmnl

[richmwill]

1. Terrible. Racial violence is a terrible, unnecessary evil.

Soon the man will be facing a manslaughter charge at the least. Wonder if he regrets that punch now?

[hrmjustin]

2. Very sad and scary. Union Square is normally a safe space.