A man accused of assaulting or harassing at least five people in New York City over the past year, including a woman who documented her injury on TikTok, has been indicted on hate crime charges in the “anti-female, anti-white, and antisemitic” attacks, prosecutors say.
Skiboky Stora, 40, is charged with three counts of third-degree assault as a hate crime, one count of third-degree stalking as a hate crime and second-degree aggravated harassment in connection with the incidents, which stretched from September to March, the Manhattan district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
Stora, of Brooklyn, had previously been arrested in March on an assault charge, accused of hitting a woman in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The woman documented the bizarre injury on TikTok.
In that case, the 23-year-old white woman was walking in Chelsea on March 25 when she passed Stora and he “struck her in the head, causing her to fall to the ground,” authorities said. She suffered pain and swelling on the left side of her head, the DA's office said.
“You guys, I was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face,” she said tearfully in her video. “Oh, my God, it hurts so bad. I can’t even talk.”
She was one of several women who posted on the platform describing being punched or attacked as they were walking down the street in Manhattan.
“Skiboky Stora allegedly committed a series of hate-motivated incidents against several individuals based on their perceived gender, race and religion,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. “Nobody should have to fear for their safety because of their identity.”
The series of attacks started on Sept. 20, when Stora passed a 17-year-old white student in Chelsea, elbowed him in the neck and said, “You people think you can do whatever the f--- you want,” the district attorney's office alleged in a release.
Then, on the morning of Oct. 26, a 37-year-old woman described as “fair-skinned” walked past Stora in Chelsea and, as she passed, he elbowed her left shoulder, causing pain and bruising, officials claimed.
A month later, on Nov. 18, a white Jewish couple were walking their dogs in Union Square when the 28-year-old woman saw a man tearing down posters about kidnapped Israeli hostages and took a photo of him.
The man, whom authorities identified as Stora, noticed the couple looking at him, began to follow them and shouted “anti-white and antisemitic remarks,” including “F---- you white boy,” officials alleged.
A woman invited the couple into her apartment so they could get away from the man, who followed them into the building lobby yelling, “Die, Jews, Die!”prosecutors said.
The series of attacks apparently culminated with the attack on the woman who posted on TikTok. Stora was arrested two days laterin connection with that incident, and he has pleaded not guilty in that case.
He pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges at his arraignment Tuesday. Stora is representing himself in court, according to court records. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 6.
Stora has sought public office in New York since 2021 and participated in a New York City mayoral debate that year, NBC News has reported, citing public records. In 2022, he filed a handwritten petition to get on the ballot for New York governor. Last year, records show, Stora ran for the District 9 seat on the New York City Council.
Stora denied the allegations in the indictment, calling the hate crime charges “absolutely madness.”
Stora told NBC News on Wednesday that he sued Mayor Eric Adams last year, that he intends to run in the mayoral election against him next year and that he believes that he is being charged as an act of political retribution, identifying himself as a Black Republican.
Speaking about the assault on the woman who documented her injury on TikTok, he said, “I never met that woman,” and he claimed she identified a different person in a lineup.
Asked about the November incident involving the Jewish couple, Stora said he was tearing down the posters because they were “scaring the kids in the community.”
“I’m all about America. I love Jews,” he said.
He said thecouple confronted him as he was tearing down the poster, andhe claimed the man told him: “The Muslims are coming. Die, Jew, die.” Stora said the couple made the statement, which the district attorney’s office referred to, in mockery toward him.
He then headed home and saw the couple enter a building, he claimed. They eventually exited and then followed him home, he said.
Online court records show that Stora filed a lawsuit against the New York City Board of Elections last year under the Civil Rights Act that is ongoing, as well as a second suit last month against the cityand Bragg alleging false arrest and excessive force in connection with a search warrant executed at his home on April 18. The warrant was executed after the street attack incidents. No responses have been filed in response to the latest suit.
Marlene Lenthang
Breaking News Reporter
