An investigator who was caught on camera confronting and shoving a subway dancer in Washington D.C. is publicly castigating the criminal charges he faces for the altercation.
Harold Christy, a former Secret Service agent who’s now an investigator for the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, was charged with misdemeanor assault after confronting two performers on the subway. But he’s challenging the charge on several online forums, stating that authorities unfairly pinned him as the aggressor in the encounter with the “illegal dancers.”
Surveillance video caught the moments Christy boarded a subway train in D.C. on July 16. Shortly after he gets on and positions himself next to a train door, one man is seen placing a portable speaker near him and begins dancing.
A visibly frustrated Christy immediately confronts the dancer, appearing to scold him, but the dancer pays Christy no mind and continues his routine.
According to an affidavit obtained by the Washington City Paper, Christy reportedly shouted, “Turn the got damn music off!” and, “Get off my train! Don’t do this on my train!”
Surveillance footage shows that a few moments after his outburst, Christy grabs the dancer and shoves him against the train door. One of the dancer’s friends immediately breaks Christy’s hold, separating him from his friend.
When the train makes its next stop, Christy then pushes the dancer off the subway car while deboarding himself. The dancer immediately hops back on the train.
After Christy was charged in the attack, he took to Reddit to make his case online through a lengthy post, stating that he was only trying to stop the dancers’ “criminal and dangerous activity” to defend himself and others.
Christy cited D.C. law to allege the dancers committed unlawful acts including false imprisonment and disorderly conduct as reasons to justify his actions.
“They ignored my objections and continued to dominate the space with their movements and violent music,” Christy wrote of the confrontation. “When the train reached Waterfront, I attempted to push one of the individuals off the train, to stop the unlawful, harmful activity and because I was in apprehension of imminent offensive contact to me and the other passengers in the area. The other dancer grabbed me from behind and violently threw me toward the opposite door. When the door eventually opened, I succeeded in extricating myself from the car.”
According to the 57-year-old’s version of events, he wrote that after the dancers committed their “violent acts” against him, the police were called. He was investigated and arrested weeks later for assault.
He claims investigators are “selectively prosecuting a paying passenger for reacting to rampant, unsafe, unlawful conduct,” adding that “the few malefactors among us make the stations and cars a horror show of unlawful and hazardous conduct.”
“I don’t regret anything,” Christy told the Washington City Paper. “Because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Although Christy pleaded his case online in the hopes of winning over potential sympathizers, his side of the story didn’t easily sway most people.
“You weren’t defending yourself,” one Reddit user commented. “You saw people being annoying in public and decided to get physical with them. That’s an overreaction, full stop. They shouldn’t be performing on the train, but you shouldn’t be assaulting them.”
“We all hate the loud music and panhandling in the metro, but the moment you put your hands on one of them you lost the high ground,” another person added. “Good luck on your case, but you brought it on yourself.”
Christy also started a crowdfunding campaign to raise $50,000 for his legal expenses.
He shared that he has been placed on administrative leave from his job and faces possible jail time and fines if convicted. His attorney told the Washington City Paper that he’s adamant about taking the matter to trial, which is set for Jan. 21.
