Police investigate another possible hate crime in the city center

ITHACA, NY – For the second time in a matter of weeks, the Ithaca Police Department (IPD) has announced an investigation into a “possible hate crime” that occurred on the Ithaca Commons over the weekend.

According to IPD Sergeant Matthew Braman, police responded to a report of a fight in the Commons at around 12:15 a.m. Saturday. When they arrived, police found two victims who said they had been physically assaulted by four people who also made “derogatory comments about the victim's ethnicity” during the attack.

Braman said the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the incident.

The suspects were described as two black males, one wearing a gray sweatshirt and black pants and the other wearing blue jeans and a black sweatshirt, and two white males, one wearing tan pants and a gray shirt and the other wearing gray pants and a gray shirt.

Braman did not disclose what specific comments were made during the attack. The investigation is ongoing and police are asking witnesses to come forward with any information about the incident.

The incident is one of several racist or discriminatory incidents in Ithaca in recent weeks. Police reported that on August 17, a person was physically assaulted on Cascadilla Street after derogatory remarks were made about the victim's gender identity, prompting another hate crime investigation.

The incident occurred after members of the local black community spoke out about two racist incidents in Stewart Park earlier this summer and threats against the Ithaca City School District administration and board members. As a result, local preacher Rev. Peaches Gillette initiated the initiative of a “Community Watch Group.”