Multiple women have shared TikTok videos recounting incidents of being unexpectedly punched by strangers while walking in New York City. At least two such assaults during daylight hours were reported to the police this week, the New York Post reported.
Halley Kate, an influencer with 1.1 million followers on the platform, uploaded a video on Monday following one of the assaults currently under investigation by the NYPD. She described how the attack caused her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.
"You guys, I was literally just walking, and a man came up and punched me in the face," Kate said through tears in a post on Monday morning.
"Oh my God, it was so bad, I can't even talk."
Ms Kate did not provide specific details about the time or location of the purported incident. However, her video narrating the experience seemed to be filmed on 7th Avenue, situated between West 15th and 16th streets in Chelsea.
In subsequent videos, she mentioned contacting the police and showed herself applying ice to a sizable bump resembling a "devil horn" on her head.
Six hours later, Mikayla Toninato, a woman whose profile indicated she is a student at Parsons School of Design in Greenwich Village, tagged Kate in a post, sharing a similar narrative.
just got punched in the face, walking home," the TikToker claimed.
"I was literally like leaving class, I turned the corner and I was looking down and I was looking at my phone, and like texting, and then, out of nowhere, this man just came up and hit me in the face," she said.
In an update, Ms Toninato said the attack took place at West 14th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
On March 17, another woman named Oliva Brand utilized the platform to recount a matching encounter, as depicted in a video recorded on Mulberry Street in Nolita.
"I literally got punched in the head on the sidewalk. He goes, 'Sorry,' and then punches me - in the head," Brand said, in a video of her walking down a street.
"Holy crap, what the hell just happened? Oh my God."
The NYPD verified the accounts provided by Kate and Brand. They stated that a 23-year-old woman reported an assault at the intersection of West 16th Street and 7th Avenue at 10:20 a.m. on Monday, mirroring Kate's report. The victim received treatment at a medical facility for injuries sustained to the left side of her face, according to law enforcement officials.
Similarly, on March 17, a 25-year-old woman was walking her dog just before noon at the intersection of Kenmare and Mulberry streets when she was "punched in the head by an unknown individual," as per officials responding to inquiries about Brand's video.
Police indicated that it was uncertain whether the incidents were linked.
The recent grievances echoed the alleged experience of another young female TikTok user, Jill Burke, who claimed on February 8th to have been assaulted near Union Square. Burke stated that the suspect was apprehended and subsequently released on his own recognizance.
The purported occurrences coincided with the tragic event in which a commuter was fatally pushed into an oncoming 4 train in East Harlem by a stranger, who is currently facing murder charges.
