Center City assault not charged as hate crime

College senior Brian Goldman and his cab driver were allegedly assaulted by three juveniles last Saturday. The three teens will not be charged with a hate crime, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.

The three black teens allegedly shouted racial slurs when they punched Goldman and his cab driver at 15th and Chestnut streets around 8:30 p.m.

However, there was no evidence that the race of the victims was a factor in the assault, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

“I fully support the DA’s decision, 100 percent,” Goldman, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, said.

The juveniles are being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person.

Goldman, who was travelling to Center City to meet a friend for dinner, wrote about his experience in his column on Jan. 30.

“I was in the backseat, looking out of my window which was rolled down and then — bam! A strong punch came barreling through the window and hit me squarely in the jaw,” he wrote.

The cab driver grabbed a crowbar from his trunk and defended himself against the perpetrators. Spectators looked on but did not act, according to Goldman.

“We were in the heart of Philadelphia, a major metropolis, yet the intersection of 15th and Chestnut streets resembled the closest thing I could imagine to a war zone,” he wrote.

Goldman fled from the scene, and the police later caught the three teens.

Goldman did not suffer serious injury from the incident, and he is now looking to put the incident behind him.

“I have a full plate for my last semester of college,” he said. “I’m not going to let this stop me from accomplishing any goals.”

As for advice for Penn students in the future — “be wary of your surroundings, keep your head out.”

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