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A man accused of sucker punching a female TikTok influencer has been identified as a candidate ran for New York City mayor and council, as well as New York State governor, within the past three years.
Skiboky Stora, 40, of East New York, was charged with assault in connection to a random attack on Halley Kate, who posted a video claiming she'd been punched in the face by a stranger while walking in the Chelsea neighborhood on Monday (March 25), the New York City Police Department announced via the New York Post. Stora was already set to appear in Manhattan court in relation to a previous arrest Wednesday (March 27) morning.
Kate's video garnered more than 41 million views, which included several other women who commented that they had also been sucker punched in Manhattan recently.
“I am not hear to argue that New York City can be really scary at times, but I have lived here for six years, and I have not had anything even remotely similar happen,” she said, noting that she thought TikTok's algorithm boosted other women's recounts of similar situations and didn't believe they were related.
“From listening to a lot of those girl’s videos it didn’t really sound like it was the same person. I think it might just be a somewhat common thing that happens in big cities,” she said, noting that she would be “more aware of her surroundings” in the future.
Police didn't confirm whether Stora, a frequent candidate for elected office and rapper under the moniker of 'Designer Attitude,' was a suspect in other related incidents. The alleged attacker had previously made unsuccessful bids for City Council in District 9 in 2023, losing to Democrat and exonerated former Central Park 5 suspect Yusef Salaam; the 2022 Republican gubernatorial election; and the 2021 New York City mayoral election.
Stora, who claims to be the great-great-grandson of Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey, said he was shot while living in a homeless shelter in 2005 and later unsuccessfully sued the Department of Homeless Services and a security contractor for failing to prevent the suspect from climbing over the facility's wall and shooting him, City Limits reported.