New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been blasted on social media for sharing a post about the improvement in subway safety on the same day a woman was set on fire. A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly setting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning, December 22. The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, allegedly watched the innocent victim burn to death.
The police commissioner referred to the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.” The incident took place at about 7:30 am on an idling F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch reportedly said the horrific crime “took the life of an innocent New Yorker.”
‘This post is so tone deaf’
On the same day, Hochul posted on Instagram, “In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day. Since deploying the @NationalGuardNY to support @NYPD and @MTA safety efforts and adding cameras to all subway cars, crime is going down, and ridership is going up.”
Netizens slammed Hochul in the comment section of the post, with one user saying, “Ummm did she check the news today?” “this post is so tone deaf- same day that a woman was burned alive on the f train. are you serious?????” one user said, while another commented, “someone literally got BURNED ALIVE today but okay”.
“Governor Hochul, a rider was set on fire on the F train and she died. What on Earth is going on?!?” one user wrote. “Wasn’t a women set on fire today as well? You have the nerve to say it’s safe. Sorry Kathy your private subway car closed off by your security detail doesn’t count…,” one said, while another wrote, “Please resign and leave New York and never go back into politics.”
At a press conference, Tisch described the heinous incident, saying, as reported by New York Post, “As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car … and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”
Patrolling cops smelled the smoke and followed it, only to discover the woman covered in flames. They extinguished the fire, but the woman died at the scene.
Zapeta, 33, reportedly came to the US from Guatemala in 2018. A lighter was found in his pocket when he was picked up by cops. It is believed he used a lighter to ignite the woman’s clothing.
