{"id":25342,"date":"2025-11-01T18:54:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T18:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/25342\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T18:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T18:54:21","slug":"mentally-ill-man-charged-in-string-of-anti-asian-attacks-cycled-in-and-out-of-nys-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/25342\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentally ill man charged in string of anti-Asian attacks cycled in and out of NY’s justice system"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man accused of carrying out a string of attacks against Asian New Yorkers<\/a> was remanded on hate crime charges in Manhattan on Friday, following a years-long cycle through the system that apparently saw him slip through the cracks of city and state-funded programs designed to aid defendants with a mental illness.<\/p>\n

Clive Porter, 33, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, charged with committing assault, attempted assault, and grand larceny as hate crimes and related offenses for the alleged incidents on Wednesday that left a group of people terrorized.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg\u2019s office allege Porter set out on a spree of violence, punching or forcefully elbowing three elderly people and pickpocketing another person within a span of 15 minutes after 9:35 a.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Obtained by Daily News<\/p>\n

A woman was randomly attacked in an anti-Asian hate crime at Forsyth St. and East Broadway in Chinatown on Wednesday, allegedly by Clive Porter. (Obtained by Daily News)<\/p>\n

After 4 p.m., he allegedly punched a man who\u2019d just gotten off a J train at the Bowery subway station, bloodying his nose and causing cuts and bruises, after screaming slurs.<\/p>\n

The man, stunned by the assault, fell back onto the subway tracks after Porter allegedly fled the scene, according to authorities. He managed to hoist himself up and flag down the police.<\/p>\n

All of the victims were of Asian descent, and nobody was seriously injured, according to the NYPD.<\/p>\n

Rikers Island<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Barry Williams\/for New York Daily News<\/p>\n

The sign at the entrance to Rikers Island is pictured in Queens. Porter has served two jail sentences, apparently returning to sleeping on the streets both times after his release. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s charges represent the most serious Porter has faced out of dozens of arrests in recent years, according to a Daily News review of his record. On at least 12 occasions, police determined he had a mental illness or was emotionally distressed, according to the NYPD.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Daily News after Friday\u2019s proceedings, Porter\u2019s public defender, Joseph Payne, said his client had a prescription for psychiatric medication, but that it had been stolen or misplaced in the days leading to the alleged attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was without access to medication for the last couple days, and now, here we are,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n

One of the key debates in the current mayoral race has been how to handle people with severe mental illness entangled in the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

Porter\u2019s experiences, like those of so many defendants constantly cycling through the worn-out revolving door in arraignments, expose glaring shortcomings<\/a> in city- and state-funded programs that exist for treating, monitoring, and rehabilitating repeat offenders living in extreme poverty with poorly treated or untreated mental illness, and in the jails themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Zohran<\/p>\n

New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Porter\u2019s experiences in the criminal justice system are central to one of the key debates in the current mayoral race. (New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

In the four years preceding Wednesday\u2019s alleged incidents, prosecutors and judges in Brooklyn and Manhattan have taken turns confronting Porter\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n

The East Midwood, Brooklyn, man, who is set to turn 34 in two weeks, served two jail sentences, apparently returning to sleeping on the streets both times after his release, and at least twice has been ordered to comply with the city\u2019s supervised release program.<\/p>\n

In August 2021, he was arrested for hurling a bottle through the front window of a woman\u2019s car, shattering it as she drove down Nostrand Ave. near President St. in Crown Heights and leaving her with cuts on her arms and stomach.<\/p>\n

The case was referred to Brooklyn\u2019s mental health court<\/a> in November 2023, where Porter was ordered to comply with a court-mandated treatment program and pleaded guilty to attempted assault in September, a court official told The News. He faces two to four years in prison when he is sentenced in that case on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n

The mental health courts, which tailor case outcomes to treat people\u2019s specific needs, have seen strong results<\/a> but receive little funding from the city and state and are available only to a select few.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The News, Porter\u2019s mother, a 61-year-old home health aide who did not wish to be named, said that he doesn\u2019t find himself in trouble when he\u2019s taking his medication. She said she last saw him the Friday before Wednesday\u2019s alleged attacks, when he had the meds he picks up each month from a pharmacy near her home, and she gave him $60 for some food.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s nice. He\u2019s a nice person. He\u2019s a good person,\u201d Porter\u2019s mother said through tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he don\u2019t take his medication, he goes off,\u201d she later added. \u201cWhen he takes the medication, he\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a year with no arrests, police took Porter into custody in Manhattan following incidents in February and March 2023 regarding misdemeanor tampering and aggravated assault offenses. He was sentenced to five months in jail the following June after taking a plea deal.<\/p>\n

Shortly after his release, he was arrested in Brooklyn for a graffiti incident on Valentine\u2019s Day 2024 and subsequently pleaded guilty, receiving a conditional discharge. The following Halloween, he was arrested for striking a man in the pinky with an ice pick following a verbal dispute that turned into a physical fight in lower Manhattan. He was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty in that case.<\/p>\n

This September, Porter was arrested again in Brooklyn for allegedly smoking a K2 cigarette on the southbound L train platform at Broadway Junction. At his arraignment, a judge ordered him to comply with the city\u2019s supervised release program.<\/p>\n

subway<\/p>\n

\"Subway<\/p>\n

James Keivom\/New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Porter was arrested in September for allegedly smoking K2 at the Broadway Junction station in Brooklyn. (James Keivom\/New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

He was arrested less than a month later, on Oct. 14, for allegedly threatening two men with knives in the Times Square subway system. He was arraigned on non-bail-eligible offenses and ordered by a Manhattan judge to comply with the city\u2019s supervised release program.<\/p>\n

It was not clear from prosecutors or court records whether Porter had complied with the city\u2019s supervised release program<\/a>. The Mayor\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice manages the program\u2019s contracts. When participants don\u2019t comply, operators are supposed to contact defense attorneys. If the lawyers can\u2019t speak to their clients\u2019 whereabouts, operators are required to notify all parties.<\/p>\n

Bragg\u2019s office did not respond to inquiries about whether it had ever referred Porter to the mental health courts, as prosecutors had in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Porter\u2019s mom on Friday said he had been employed as a cashier many years ago, but that mental health issues and drug addiction had totally derailed him. She expressed frustration at the mishmash of outcomes in his cases and the lack of consistent treatment available.<\/p>\n

Distraught at the prospect of her son going to jail, Porter\u2019s mother said she feared his psychiatric condition would go untreated and inevitably get worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are the judge and you see this person coming in every time, you see something wrong with him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m begging these people to help him. He\u2019s my only son.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Graham Rayman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man accused of carrying out a string of attacks against Asian New Yorkers was remanded on hate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,98,266,267,9,24,264,12,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-25342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-county","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-the-bronx","18":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","19":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}