This story includes details that some readers might find disturbing.
A 23-year-old registered nurse and Montreal native says “I now understand that every Jew is a target” after she was choked twice, kicked, thrown to the floor and her hair pulled from her scalp by another passenger while on a subway train Sunday in New York.
The woman recorded the beginning of the assault from her smartphone while riding the C train on the afternoon of May 31. The train was packed with commuters, yet no one intervened initially when a female assailant turned around, cupped her right hand to her mouth and shouted the blood libel: “Jews are eating kids!”
The assailant then leaned toward the nurse — who is of the orthodox Jewish faith — telling her: “You’re a Jew. I smell the kids.”
The crowd let out a collective gasp when the assailant shoved the nurse, prompting some passengers to pull the attacker away from the petite woman. In the video, the assailant seems to be shocked that other passengers would disapprove of her actions.
“It’s okay for her to eat a kid but I can’t choke her down?” she is heard protesting.
The video of the woman’s assault — which was posted on the X social media platform by Combat Antisemitism Movement — has been viewed more than 350,000 times as of Friday morning, was the subject of a New York Post story and has led to a reckoning about the rise of antisemitism in the city that never sleeps.
?? NYC, May 31, 2026: A 23 year old Jewish woman sent CAM footage of her assault on a subway train.
Around 2:15 PM, a woman told her she could “smell the babies” she had eaten and yelled that “Jews eat babies” before choking her, throwing her to the ground, and beating her. pic.twitter.com/4yMygy3EEb
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) June 3, 2026
The woman, who grew up in Montreal but who now lives in New York, agreed to recount details of her assault on condition that The Gazette not publish her name. She also shared videos and photos with a reporter that have not been made public.
I honestly feel terrified and I’ve been just running on fear and adrenalin.”
Nurse who was attacked
a Montreal native
“In the video you also see her choking me for a second before getting pulled off and that was what I was referring to when saying, ‘I was just assaulted’” the woman recalled.
“I thought that was the end of it, but she came at me again and that’s when the video cuts out. She choked me for a second time, kicked me and shoved me to the ground using the force from grabbing my hair. I was on the floor for the entirety of the next stop getting beaten all the while her hand never left my hair and her grasp was so strong that the clump of hair was ripped out.”
The woman despaired over the fact that only one couple came to her aid as she was being mauled at length.
“I noticed that while I was attacked, before and after I hit the ground, only one couple tried to help me,” she said.
NYPD officers later arrested Bronx resident Diana Smith. The New York Police Department on Friday confirmed to The Gazette the allegations against Smith and listed the charges she will likely face: assault, criminal obstructing breathing and aggravated harassment — all three in the context of hate crimes.
“Officers were informed that a 23-year-old female individual, while onboard a northbound C train, made antisemitic remarks toward a 23-year-old female victim before choking, kicking, and punching her in the abdomen,” the NYPD press office declared in a statement.
“In addition, the individual pulled the victim’s hair and dragged her to the ground. EMS responded and transported the victim to Lenox Health Greenwich Village in stable condition.”
On Thursday, The New York Post revealed Smith has a history with mental illness and run-ins with the police, adding that the Manhattan district attorney’s office has yet to indict her.
How the woman views her future
Four days after the attack, the woman was still in a state of shock and struggling to make sense of what happened.
“I honestly feel terrified and I’ve been just running on fear and adrenalin. I have not been able to sleep properly or have much of an appetite.
“I feel sick that people can watch another human be attacked and do nothing,” she continued. “That they can hear dehumanizing words and say nothing. Physically, I know I will be OK. My hair will grow back, the headaches will go away and the soreness will subside. Emotionally though, these scars will never fade.”
Like Jews around the world, the woman was already deeply concerned by a growing number of documented incidents of antisemitism. But what happened to her last Sunday has forever altered her life.
“I’ve seen the videos of others getting attacked and I know antisemitism is on the rise but again, I didn’t really feel it myself,” she explained.
“It’s stuff I saw on the news but not things that actually happened to people just on the subway home. I now understand that every Jew is a target. It isn’t about Zionism, it’s about Judaism.”
“People have hated and persecuted us for years,” she concluded. “As Jewish people, we have seen where this leads. We said ‘never again’ after the Holocaust — and yet.”
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