It’s a question being asked across social media platforms, as a series of videos of different women sharing stories of alleged attacks have gone viral, seemingly simultaneously. “I have seen no less than four of these in the last day WHAT is going on?” one commenter wrote on a video.
The stories share similarities. In front-facing camera videos, young women say they were punched in the face in broad daylight by unknown men while walking down the street. Many say they were on their phone at the time of the attack.
New York police said on March 27 that they made an arrest in one of the incidents and are investigating another, NBC News reported.
While police wouldn’t confirm that any of the incidents described in the TikTok videos are under investigation, they shared that the cases resemble those shared on social media.
Overall crime in New York has fallen: Police reported a decrease in shootings, murders and other crimes, like grand larceny, as opposed to February of last year. But the attacks come amid a statistical rise in misdemeanor assault. According to crime statistics for this past week, misdemeanor assault is up 10.3% from this time last year, and it has gone up 15.7% in the past two years.
Caitlin Keith spoke to TODAY.com about an incident that took place in December 2023 that shares similarities with the recent viral stories, and the impact it had on her.
Read more here from Today.com.
