Long Island Man Pleads Guilty In Racist LIRR Rant Case

A Long Beach man who was caught on video yelling threats and racist insults at a woman on the LIRR has pleaded guilty to charges against, Newsday reported.

Edward Ruggiero, 58, of East Penn Street, pleaded guilty on Thursday to aggravated harassment and disorderly conduct, Newsday reported. He will have to take a 12-week bias course and pay a $250 fine.

The charges -- and his sentence -- are reduced from the original charges brought against him by the Queens district attorney in May. Ruggiero was originally charged with third-degree menacing as a hate crime and second-degree aggravated harassment. He was facing up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine under those charges.

On April 19, between 9:53 and 10:25 p.m., Ruggiero started his racist tirade by getting up and approaching a black woman on the train, a 25-year-old Lynbrook resident, raising his hands toward her and saying, "I'll smack the [expletive deleted] out of you, you loudmouth monkey [expletive deleted]."

Ruggiero continued screaming at her, calling her a "black monkey" and that she should "get off in Jamaica. Get off in the ghetto," and then began to make monkey-like sounds.

When a fellow passenger, another black woman, came to the first woman's aid, Ruggiero began verbally attacking her as well.

The incident came to the attention of authorities because a portion of Ruggiero's alleged racist rant was caught on video by another passenger and went viral. According to people on the train, the verbal attack lasted for 10 minutes before Ruggiero got up and moved to a different car.

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