The Harlem community turned out in droves, rallying on Saturday in support of a Black woman who was attacked outside of a liquor store on earlier that week by three men.
The 31-year-old woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, entered the Harlem liquor store when three young men offered to buy her alcohol. She says she politely declined but once she exited the store, she was brutally attacked by the men who then stole her phone.
The woman says she was punched, kicked and her face was bitten. “I was mauled, this is more than being bitten,” she said.
The attack was caught on camera and surveillance footage of the men inside and outside the store were released to the public.
The woman told NBC News they also spat on her:
“I couldn’t believe it, it was like an animal,” she said. “That’s the only way I can put it, it was like an animal.”
Police are still looking for the suspects.