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Panhandler Who Attacked Man While Yelling 'F---ing Indians' Pleads Guilty

By Katie Honan | December 1, 2016 3:38pm
 Gazi Rahman was pushed and punched by Christopher Porr last May. 
Gazi Rahman was pushed and punched by Christopher Porr last May. 
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

QUEENS — A panhandler who attacked a Bangladeshi man while shouting "f---ing Indians" last summer has pleaded guilty to assault — as the victim says he feels more unsafe in New York now than he did after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"When I walk I think somebody is going to hit me," Gazi Rahman, 46, told DNAinfo on Thursday.

Christopher Porr, 39, of Fresh Meadows, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault Tuesday and was ordered to attend 15 days of bias sensitivity training after attacking Gazi Rahman, 46, over the summer.

Porr will then be on probation for three years, prosecutors said. If he fails to meet the requirements, he could face jail time. His lawyer, Christopher Renfroe, did not return a call seeking comment. 

Rahman was walking on Hillside Avenue near Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica on May 7, 2016 when Porr approached him and asked him for money, police said.

When Rahman didn't give him any cash, Porr, 39, began shouting "f---ing Indians" and pushed Rahman to the ground — in an incident that was caught on video. Rahman, who fought back against Porr on video, got a concussion and a broken nose during the attack — yet police initially arrested Rahman for assault, his lawyer, Ali Najmi, said this summer. 

After Najmi obtained video of the attack and presented it to investigators, the charges were dropped against his client.

"We hope Mr. Porr doesn't do this to anybody else," Najmi said.

But Rahman — whose family and friends had pushed prosecutors to charge Porr with a hate crime — said the impact of the attack still lingers for him and his family, and said last month's election has made him more fearful.

"After the election, a lot has happened," he said, referring to the spike in hate crimes the NYPD has recorded following Trump's win.

"We're more targeted."

He's especially afraid for his wife, who comes home late from night school and wears a hijab. He picks her up each night to walk with her, he said. 

Rahman came to Queens in 1998 and said the current climate for Muslims is worse than its ever been, even after the Sept. 11 attacks. 

"It's very bad, the change of the times," he said. "It's worse now than [in 2001.]"

Hate and bias crimes are up 30 percent in 2016, statistics show. Rahman's attack was not prosecuted as a hate crime, but Najmi said it's an example of what the Muslim community is afraid of.

"Unfortunately Mr. Rahman was a victim of violence, but people are nervous and there has been a lot more incidents," Najmi said.

"We are going to take each and every account that comes to us very seriously."

Rahman, who has an order of protection against Porr, said he hopes his attacker learns from the attack. 

​"He has to respect the people and our community," he said. "And respect for everyone, not only our community, but all communities."