Several women on TikTok claim they were punched in the face on the street by strangers in NYC

Several women have posted videos to TikTok this week claiming they were punched in the face by a stranger on the streets of New York City, including at least two attacks reported to police during the day. 

Halley Kate, a TikTok influencer with 1.2 million followers, posted a video saying she was attacked and punched on the street by a stranger, saying she was knocked to the ground and passed out. 

“You guys, I was literally just walking, and a man came up and punched me in the face,” she recounted on her account. A large bump on her forehead is visible in the video as she spoke through tears. 

In a second video, she shared more details of what happened. “I don’t know if he punched me or if he elbowed me. I literally passed out, so I don’t really remember, but I think he was just really mad that my head was down, so he decided to body-check me and let me know to be conscious of my surroundings... And then I fell to the ground, and I blacked out for a second, but then I woke up, and he was screaming at me, like really screaming at me, and I was just like scared, so I literally ran away.”

@halleykate♬ original sound - halley

Another woman named Mikayla Toninato told a similar story in another TikTok video. She said she was leaving class at The New School and was walking down the street when she was punched in the face while she was looking at her phone to send a text message. 

Testimony of Mikayla Toninato

“I was literally like leaving class, I turned the corner, and I was looking down, and I was looking at my phone, and like texting, and then, out of nowhere, this man just came up and hit me in the face,” she said.

She said the attack occurred at West 14th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. She described the assailant as “The man that hit me was a black male, definitely over six feet tall, he had dreads that didn’t quite go to his shoulder” and  “definitely looked unhoused.” She also said that she believes multiple men are attacking women in this style. 

@mikaylatoninato

Thank you all so much ❤️ i hope this helps answer any questions, im so sorry to everyone else that this happened to

♬ original sound - mikayla

There are numerous testimonies from other women on the app, all telling similar accounts that they were on their phones or looking down, and all of a sudden, they were punched in the face. 

The NYPD confirmed the stories of Kate and another woman, Olivia Brand, according to the New York Post. 

This phenomenon is not new to the streets of New York. In 2021, it was also a trend; however, the targets were not only women.

During this period, a man on the Upper West Side was punched, as well as a Catholic deacon, according to a New York Post report. In 2018, there was another spree of assaults dubbed a “knock-out game.”