Long Island Man In Racist LIRR Rant Video Charged With Hate Crime

A Long Beach man who was caught on video hurling racist insults at a black woman on the Long Island Rail Road was charged with a hate crime by the Queens district attorney on Wednesday.

Edward Ruggiero, 58, of East Penn Street, was charged with third-degree menacing as a hate crime and second-degree aggravated harassment for the verbal assault that authorities say he unleashed on two black women who were riding the train with him last month. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

“The bigotry and hatred that the defendant is accused of manifesting and acting upon have no place in a civilized society – especially in Queens County, the most culturally diverse county in the nation," said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. "No one should be subjected to the vile words and intimidating actions the defendant is accused of tormenting the victim with. Crimes of hate will never be tolerated here and when they do regrettably occur, those responsible will be brought to justice.”

• WATCH: Racist LIRR rant caught on video.

According to Brown, on April 19, between 9:53 and 10:25 p.m., Ruggiero started his racist tirade by getting up and approaching one of the women, 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].”

Brown said that 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.

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.