Two men face multiple charges — with hate crimes enhancements — after they harassed a woman on a New York street and then tried to set her boots on fire.
The incident took place on February 19 and was livestreamed by the two men, identified as Michael Santiago, 31, and Michael James, 33, The New York Times reported.
The video was posted to YouTube and other social media outlets under the name ScrubsNYC. James frequently posts videos of the two trolling people throughout New York. Video posted to the account include the pair being kicked out of bodegas and making a pass at a school crossing guard.
On February 19, the two approach a 54-year-old black woman Black woman in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood where one of them — wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat — demands that she kiss him. The woman refuses, and the man, later identified as Michael James, become belligerent and hurls racial epithets at the woman, even telling her he want to have sex with a “slave” and telling the woman, “You’re my slave.”
“One of the individuals engaged the victim in conversation and leaned in to kiss her,” New York Police said in a news release. “The victim pushed him away, after which the individual proceeded to make anti-Black statements toward her.”
Then, James asks to kiss the woman’s boots, and she allows it. But when he kneels to the sidewalk, he pulls out a light and tries to light the fuzzy boots.
Santiago is filming the encounter, police said — and the woman also filmed it.
After the incident, the victim reported it to police, who put out images and asked for help identifying the two men. Multiple tips led to their arrest on Thursday.
Both men have been charged with criminal mischief, menacing, and attempted assault with hate crimes enhancements, and harassment, criminal tampering, and arson.
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[Featured image: ScrubsNYC. Inset: Top, Michael James; Bottom, Michael Santiago/New York Police Department]