Bronx Community Rallies For Peace Following Brutal Beating Of Street Vendor
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Friends of a street vendor who was brutally beaten in the Bronx earlier this month rallied for peace Saturday and got some good news about his condition.
The group marched through Mott Haven for several blocks, demanding safety in the streets where Souleymane Porgo was attacked.
"I was in my work and I got a phone call. They said, 'Samba, your brother got beat up," his brother, Samba Porgo, said.
Samba didn't believe it until he saw the surveillance video himself. It showed the sickening sight of his brother on the sidewalk at East 149th Street and Third Avenue, suffering blow after blow at the hands of five suspects, CBS2's Jessica Layton reported.
Souleymane, a West African immigrant, has been working as a street vendor, selling handbags and books for 10 years.
"It was shocking because this guy, he's the nicest human being that you can find around," friend Cheickna Maiga said.
But the five suspects apparently got angry when he called them out for trying to take a purse without paying.
The crime was so brutal, it put Souleymane in a coma. At the rally Saturday, friends learned he's now awake.
"I was with my brother this morning. He's feeling better," Samba said.
In the last few days, Souleyman has been able to open his eyes and move his legs. His family and friends say he isn't able to speak yet, but if he could, they're pretty sure they know what he'd say to his attackers, Layton reported.
"He would have said, 'I forgive them.' That I know. That's how peaceful he is," Maiga said.
Police have arrested three of the suspects, and the community has a message for the two who have yet to be caught.
"To turn themselves in. Running is not a solution," friend Souleimane Konate said.
Friends say they're confident the men will soon be in custody and hopeful the husband and father will keep fighting to get his life back.
