4 Teens charged with ‘ethnic intimidation’ after attacking Asian students on train

Four teen girls from Philadelphia have been charged after attacking a group of Asian students on a train.

The incident occurred on Wednesday. A group of four teen girls were recorded going up to a group of Asian students and repeatedly punching and screaming at them. One of the girls attempted to steal airpods from one of them and another girl was seen slapping one of the victims with her shoe. The video has been taken down at the request of a friend of the victim due to its traumatic nature.

The following day, the Philadelphia District Attorney charged the girls with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, criminal conspiracy, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct. The girl who tried to steal the airpods was charged with one count of robbery. All four girls are under the age of 17.

The suspects were identified when one of their mothers saw the video and recognized her daughter and her daughter’s friends. “My daughter and her group were the full aggressors,” the mother said. “If the Asian children did anything, I would think that it was to protect themselves and that’s just what I got from the video.”

She apologized to the victims and called her daughter’s actions inexcusable. “We’re all apologetic,” the girl’s mother said. “We are embarrassed, ashamed. It’s not who we represent.” She said her daughter is 12 years old and ran away from home two weeks ago.