A New York City subway incident involving a woman allegedly hurling antisemitic insults at a young commuter before pulling her hair has led to a surprisingly low bail amount.
Diana Smith, 45, was captured on video during part of the alleged hate crime on May 31. She entered a plea of not guilty on Monday to charges including felony assault, harassment, and a hate crime involving criminal obstruction of breathing.
Smith, a resident of the Bronx, is no stranger to law enforcement, having been involved in at least six prior incidents before this troubling event, as reported by the New York Post.
Smith participated in her court proceedings via video link from Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward in Manhattan.
During the hearing, prosecutors advocated for Judge Dan Quart to impose a $30,000 bail. Meanwhile, Smith’s lawyer argued for her release on her own recognizance, citing her inability to afford bail.
Ultimately, the judge decided on a middle ground and set Smith’s bail at $10,000, as initially reported by the New York Post.
Disturbing footage taken by Smith’s alleged victim, a 23-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman from Montreal living in the Upper West Side, captured the terrifying ordeal that took place on a crowded subway car in Lower Manhattan.
The young woman, who asked not to be identified, had only been on the train car for one stop when Smith boarded around 2.15pm and almost immediately began accosting her, the victim told the Post.
Diana Smith, 45, who has been accused of committing an antisemitic hate crime against a young Jewish woman, received a $10,000 bond on Monday
Smith’s alleged victim is a 23-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman, whom she is accused of assaulting and verbally harassing with antisemitic slurs
Smith allegedly said, ‘You could always see the reflection of a Jew,’ then turned toward the 23-year-old and stared at her with a sinister grin, per the victim.
‘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,”‘ the Jewish woman told the outlet.
It was around that point that the young woman began recording. In the footage, Smith can be seen standing on the train and shouting: ‘Jews are eating kids!’
Smith then appears to address the 23-year-old woman directly, nodding and saying, ‘You’re a Jew, I smell the kids,’ while smiling eerily.
The video then cuts to the deranged lady allegedly reaching toward the victim as bystanders can be heard gasping, while she continues yelling, ‘Jews are eating kids.’
A few other train passengers tried to calm the situation, but Smith continued shouting, ‘It’s ok for Jews to eat kids, but I can’t choke her now.’
‘I was just assaulted,’ the young victim said as she turned the camera onto herself before panning it back to Smith.
Sith allegedly kicked the victim, threw her to the ground and pulled out a clump of the young woman’s hair. The victim’s scalp where her hair was pulled off is pictured
The victim is pictured holding the clump of hair that Smith allegedly pulled off her head. The young woman also said she suffered a concussion from the attack
The alleged antisemite then knocked the phone out of the victim’s hand, so the rest of the harassment went unrecorded.
After the camera cut, Smith grabbed the young woman by her throat, kicked her, knocked her to the ground and yanked her hair so hard that a clump came loose, the victim said.
The Jewish woman also said that she suffered a concussion from the attack and that no one intervened with Smith’s behavior ‘until it was too late.’
The 23-year-old escaped from the train at the next stop to flag down the police, while another train rider pushed the emergency button. Smith was arrested shortly after.
‘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 Jewish woman told the Post.
The alleged hate crime came as part of a spike in antisemitic violence in New York City and across the US since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas.
On the day the Jewish woman was assaulted, the Israel Day parade was taking place on Fifth Avenue.
As the antisemitic assault took place, the Israel Day parade was occurring on Fifth Avenue. Zohran Mamdani was the first NYC mayor not to attend the event in more than 60 years
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not attend, making him the first mayor of the city to neglect the event since it was established more than 60 years ago.
‘I don’t think New York is protecting Jews. I don’t think Mamdani not going to the Israel Day Parade is helping,’ the victim told the Post.
