A Jewish passenger on a Manhattan C train was choked and had her hair torn out Sunday by a Bronx woman screaming "Jews are eating kids," The New York Post reported, aciting police and footage that had gone viral.
Identified by The New York Post as Diana Smith, the suspect boarded around 2:15 p.m. and verbally targeted Jews before assaulting the 23-year-old Upper West Side nurse. "I was a ragdoll and I couldn't defend myself – there should have been a human barricade around me," the Montreal-born Orthodox victim told The New York Post, withholding her name.
After boarding at Jay Street, the nurse said Smith approached one couple to speak "about the dangers of Jews stealing wealth," then told another, "You could always see the reflection of a Jew."
A Jewish woman was choked and beaten on a NYC subway because of a 900-year-old antisemitic blood libel. Jews make up 60% of NYC hate crime targets. How many more incidents before the city treats this as the crisis it is?pic.twitter.com/ynZJkzlbp2
— Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) June 3, 2026
"And then she turned towards me, like very targeted, stared me down, and smiled with this very eerie smile that I'll never forget," the nurse recalled. She continued: "I decided in that moment I really did not want to show fear in the face of that, so I stared at her right back down, and I said, 'So you see my reflection?' and she said, 'Yeah, and I smell it on you too.'"
A video captured Smith yelling, "Jews are eating kids," then allegedly she grabbed the victim's throat. As bystanders stepped in, she snapped: "It's OK for Jews to eat kids, but I can't choke her down." Smith allegedly choked, kicked, and shoved the young woman down, ripping out a clump of her hair. The attack caused the victim to suffer a concussion.
At Canal Street, the victim flagged officers while another rider triggered the emergency button, leading to Smith's arrest. "When I had to identify her, a ton of people were like, 'Oh, we saw what happened, are you OK?' And, that was extremely triggering for me, because, of course, I'm not OK. I kept just thinking, I'm not in Nazi Germany," the nurse said, asking: "How is this happening, and how is it that you saw what happened, and just were a bystander?"
Smith faces hate crime assault, hate crime criminal obstruction of breathing and aggravated harassment charges. "She's pure evil, but she was lucid enough to know I was Jewish," the victim said. As the assault unfolded, the Israel Day Parade was advancing up 5th Avenue – skipped by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. "I don't think New York is protecting Jews. I don't think Mamdani not going to the Israel Day Parade is helping," she said.
