The Fox News weatherman who alleged that he was assaulted by a group of teenagers after he attempted to stop them from harassing another rider on the New York subway now says “they wanted to knock me out.”
Meteorologist Adam Klotz talked to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Monday night and recalled the events that he claims took place over the weekend.
Mr Klotz said in a video posted to his Instagram that he was on his way home from watching the New York Giants at a bar on Saturday when he spotted “this older gentleman was being hassled by this group of seven or eight teens”.
“I was like, ‘Yo, guys, cut that out.’ And they decided, ‘All right, if he’s not going to get it, you’re going to get it.’ And boy did they give it to me,” he said. “They had me on the ground. My ribs are all bruised up, too. They got their hits in.”
Mr Klotz elaborated on this narrative to Mr Carlson, claiming that the teens set the elder man’s hair on fire “and I was sitting right there watching it and how can you not [say] ‘Woah guys, you can’t do that.”
“They just didn’t want to be told what they could not do, so suddenly the focus was on me,” he told Mr Carlson, before adding that the group taunted and followed him before “kicking and beating” him to the ground.
“I actually moved to whole ‘nother car on the train at a stop. We go a whole stop. The doors open, I kind of think it’s over,” Mr Klotz said. “The whole group comes and gang rushes me and jumps on me, just starts beating me and kicking me. I hear ‘put him to sleep, put him to sleep.’ They wanted to knock me out. My goal at that point was just to cover my head because once you are unconscious. Who knows what will happen? But I got kicked up and down the side and stomped on.”
Law enforcement said that the 37-year-old was on the number one train at about 1.15am when the incident took place, according to the New York Post. The teenagers left the train at the 18th street station.
Three suspects, two aged 15 and one 17-year-old, were arrested, police said.
“Juvenile reports were prepared, and their parents were called to pick them up,” a spokesperson for the New York police department said.
The agency said on Sunday that police didn’t have the option to charge the teens because of their ages and because the crime appeared to be a misdemeanour, the Post noted.
The New York City Law Department said in a statement to the outlet that the victim has to lodge a complaint with the Department of Probation before the agency is able to get involved.
The probation agency would then choose if the case should be sent on to the Law Department for prosecution.
In 2019, the age for trying a suspect as an adult was raised from 17 to 18.
Mr Klotz received treatment at Bellevue Hospital for his injuries.
In the video, he appears to be unaware that the teens were released without charges being filed.
With two black eyes, he joked “you should see the other guy”.
“My side, don’t laugh, my side is so much worse than my face. And the thing is the other guy is not really a guy. It’s children. Five or six children,” he said.
“Where are the parents?” he asked, according to the Post. “Parents, watch your children.”
Regarding the older man, the meteorologist said, “he’s fine”.
“And the cops grabbed a couple of these kids, and, you know, I got X-rays. I’m OK. This is all going to heal. So, it’s all good,” he said.
“New York City! What a place. The Big Apple,” the weatherman from Indiana added.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Klotz for comment.
