A star weatherman for Fox News was reportedly attacked and beaten by a mob of young men while on the New York City subway on Sunday.
Fox News meteorologist Adam Klotz told Fox & Friends he was attacked while heading home from a night out in Manhattan.
Klotz said a group of teens was abusing an elderly man on the train while nearly 30 people looked on but did nothing.
“There was about 25, 30 people on this train car,” Klotz told Fox News. “There’s an older gentleman across from me and there’s a group of teens, one of them was lighting a joint.”
“With that lighter, they put it in the guy’s hair and his hair went up like a matchbox.
“He’s knocking out flames and I’m like, ‘Whoa, you can’t do that, that’s not cool!’” he said.
“That’s all it took,” Klotz said. “Then I was the focus of all their attention.”
The mob of teens began attacking and harrassing Klotz, he said. He attempted to get into another train car but was followed by the group.
“I get off that train after taking a punch,” the 37-year-old said. “The whole group… the doors open again at another stop, the whole group just comes and bum rushes me. Suddenly I’m like, on the ground. I’m getting kicked in the side. I’m getting wailed on.”
Klotz said he was afraid of being knocked unconscious and being beaten to death by the mob.
“They were trying to knock me out, and then once you’re unconscious, and you’re getting punched there’s no defense. So I was just doing my absolute best to cover my head,” he said.
Klotz was treated at the hospital for his extensive head injuries. The police later said they stopped three underage suspects but they were all released to the custody of their parents.
According to the New York Post —
The young thugs — two of them are 15 and one is 17 — could only be charged if Klotz files a complaint with the city Department of Probation, which would then decide if it would refer the case to the Law Department, officials said Sunday.
“I want someone to be held responsible, but really what I want is some sort of change,” he said about pressing charges. “I don’t want this to happen to somebody else, and I don’t think necessarily just these kids getting in trouble. Like, where’s the structural things? Like, put some cops down there.”
“Why is the weather guy on the train trying to stop crime in the middle of the night?” Klotz asked. “Like, where is Eric Adams? Where’s the city? Why am I doing this? Why is it up to me?”
The Horn editorial team