Ossining Man Sentenced For Stabbing Teen In Brutal Hate Crime

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Ossining resident Robert McCallion was sentenced to 15 years in prison for brutally attacking and stabbing a Black teenager in a hate crime in 2020. In addition to the prison term, McCallion was also sentenced to five years of post-release supervision.

He insisted at his sentencing that there was "no hate" in his heart, and that he was just off his meds, The Journal News reported.

However, at a press conference afterward, District Attorney Mimi Rocah described what investigators found in his home: two loaded assault weapons, Nazi paraphernalia, a Confederate flag, a gas mask and a tactical vest.

While she said she would not describe the messages and symbols on the items found in the apartment the 35-year-old shared with his father, Rocah said, investigators also knew from searching his phone that he was looking at white nationalist organizations.

"We chose to publicize this case with the family's blessing because there is an important message," she said. "This case must serve as a warning, as a wakeup call, about how vicious and divisive rhetoric and hateful propaganda can turn dangerously violent when consumed by certain people.

"We must stand up as a community, as a country, to those who peddle bigotry and hate," she said.

McCallion did not know the 17-year-old, who was visiting her father March 3, 2020 at the Avalon apartment complex on North Highland Avenue.

He punched her in the face, knocked her to the ground, placed her in a chokehold and tried to gouge out her eyes. He smashed her head into the sidewalk, choked her again, and then stabbed her several times on her face, head, back, hands and chest, Rocah said. She suffered serious and lasting injuries including kidney, lung and eye damage.

"This was by any measure one of the most vicious and violent attacks we have ever seen," Rocah said. Her father and a good Samaritan tried to intervene; residents called 911 and shouted to direct police to the scene, she said. Ossining Police found him in the parking lot with blood on his hands and clothes.

As McCallion attacked he shouted racial slurs and anti-Semitic epithets, she said. Two days later he attacked a nurse at the Westchester County Jail. While receiving medical care, McCallion lunged at the medical professional, punched her in the head, and kicked her in the head and body, with the assault resulting in a fractured nose and a concussion, the DA said.

At the press conference, Ossining Police Chief Kevin Sylvester thanked the investigators and the county for their work.

"Today is a troubling moment for our community," he said. "Ossining is a place that prides itself on diversity and inclusion."

The department works hard to make people feel safe, but an attack like this causes widespread fear, he said. And while others may consider the incident over now that McCallion has been sentenced, "for this victim and her family this day is merely a milestone in her journey."

SEE: Ossining Man Indicted For Hate Crimes In Stabbing Of 17-Year-Old Girl