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"What The F**k Just Happened?" Homeless Man Violently Attacks NYU Student Walking To Class

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Dec 03, 2025 - 11:50 PM

A 20-year-old New York University student was violently assaulted from behind while walking to class on Lower Manhattan’s Broadway on Monday morning.

The alleged victim, Amelia Lewis, posted on TikTok about the broad daylight assault, telling her followers that she was listening to music through headphones shortly before 9:30 a.m. when a man struck her forcefully, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her to the sidewalk before fleeing.

“As I’m walking, like with my headphones on listening to music, I feel something slap me so hard, like literally on my ass,” a visibly distressed Lewis explained. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, oh that hurts so bad!’ I thought it was like one of my friends. I was gonna turn around and be like, ‘Oh, that hurt so bad, why did you do that?’

“But when I turned around, I saw this old white guy. And like right when I turned around, he grabs my fucking hair like this and, like, yanks me and, like, threw me to the ground. My headphones went fucking flying,” she added while breaking into tears. “And I was like on the ground and I saw him just bolt away down Waverly. And I was like, ‘Holy shit? What the fuck just happened?'”

On Tuesday, NYPD officers arrested 45-year-old James Rizzo, who is homeless, and charged him with assault in the second degree, forcible touching, and persistent sexual abuse stemming from Monday’s alleged attack on Lewis, according to the New York Post. Rizzo has an extensive criminal history that includes sixteen prior arrests, including multiple felony convictions for sexual abuse and forcible touching, as well as a 1997 arrest for murder. Rizzo was released from New York State prison only in September after serving a two-year sentence for his most recent felony conviction of persistent sexual abuse, the Post reports. Rizzo remains in custody pending arraignment.

Lewis branded the violent assault “unacceptable” and suggested that New Yorkers reconsider their support for city leaders with little regard for public safety (too late!).

“I should not be scared to walk to my 9:30 a.m. class,” Lewis said. “This just shows that you really need to reflect on who you’re voting for and supporting right now, because New York needs help and we’re just not getting the help we need.”

An NYU spokesman said the university is “deeply disturbed” by the attack and is providing support to the student while assisting the NYPD’s investigation.

"The University is deeply disturbed by the attack on one of its female students that took place yesterday morning on a Broadway sidewalk. We take this incident very seriously; we are offering support to the student, and NYU's Campus Safety Department is working with the police in investigating the incident,” the statement read. "The incident was reported to our Department of Campus Safety yesterday afternoon. The department's victim services unit promptly reached out to the student; they have assisted her in connecting with detectives from the local precinct."

 

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