We Have a Suspect in The NYC Serial Puncher Case, a Former Political Candidate Who's Tough on Crime
NY Post - The man who allegedly sucker-punched a TikTok influencer in New York City is a perennial down-ballot political candidate who ran for mayor, governor and City Council in the past three years.
Skiboky Stora, 40, of East New York, was charged with assault Wednesday in connection with a random Monday attack on Halley Kate, the NYPD said after the influencer told her 1.1 million followers about being punched in the face by a stranger as she walked the streets of Chelsea Monday.
The suspect was set to appear in Manhattan court on Wednesday morning for a previous arrest, court dockets show. He is a frequent candidate for elected office and performing artist who records rap music under the name Designer Attitude.
In a music video posted to his Facebook page, Stora is seen punching the air while boasting of his wealth and status as a comic book-style “Pow” graphic jumps onto the screen.
What a fun, unexpected twist to the still developing "NYC Serial Puncher" story. If you haven't seen or read about New York's latest super villain, Karim blogged it earlier, and KFC made a video. Long story short, within the last few days, at least 7 girls in NYC claimed to have been sucker punched out of nowhere while walking the streets. It seems as if we have a serial puncher on the loose.
But who exactly is this serial puncher? Nobody seems to know. It's still not clear whether or not this is the work of a single puncher, or if young women taking the occasional fisting is just the price they pay to live in the greatest city in the world. It's not like innocent New Yorkers being punched in the face is something that just started happening this week. I'm pretty sure that's been a common occurrence for centuries. I've only been living here less than 2 years, and even I'm surprised I haven't caught a stray fist on my commute to work yet. I brace for it every time.
But now it appears we have our first suspect. An arrest has been made in connection with one of the punches. And boy what a suspect he is.
He ran on the Freedom Party and ultimately failed to secure a spot on the ballot, according to Ballotpedia.
In 2022, he was a “withdrawn or disqualified” Republican gubernatorial candidate, the site said. Lee Zeldin eventually won the party’s nomination and lost to Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.
During a mayoral debate for fringe candidates hosted by Gotham Gazette in 2021, Stora, running under the Out Lawbreaker Party ticket, recounted how he had been shot while living in a homeless shelter in 2005.
He later unsuccessfully sued the Department of Homeless Services and a security contractor for failing to prevent the suspect from climbing over the wall of the facility and opening fire at him, according to City Limits.
“The main thing the Mayor Skiboky administration would be known for is people in certain positions being held accountable,” the candidate said at the debate.
“You know, you know, little kids is being gunned down in New York every single day. No, where the cops them at? You know, it doesn’t take a science rocket with titles and degrees to know that the city is corrupted.”
If you had "Skiboky Stora, The Alleged Great-Great-Grandson of Marcus Garvey Who Makes Shirtless Videos About To Keep Your Black Man While Standing In Front of a Trump Flag" on your serial puncher bingo card, then congratulations! You nailed it. It's a bold move for any politician to wander aimlessly around their city punching prospective voters in the head. I can't imagine that's going to swing any undecided citizens in Skiboky's direction. I know Billy Football wouldn't recommend that strategy. But to be fair to Skiboky, nothing he's done in the past has worked either. I had certainly never heard of him until he cold-cocked an influencer. All publicity of good publicity. And to be honest, a candidate running on the platform of "punching TikToker's in the face" is probably going to appeal to a wide demographic.
However, according to Skiboky's quote, it seems as if he was running on a "Where are the cops? Let's clean up the city" type of platform. Which you might think is ironic coming from someone who's actively assaulting people. But maybe Skiboky was trying to prove his point. Had he not been caught, I bet he would have given a campaign speech that went something like, "It's time to get crime under control. Over the past 3 months, I've punched nearly 1000 women in the face and not once has someone stopped me. I have to be stopped". I'm starting to see the vision.
Either way, be the lookout for Skiboky Stora New Yorkers. On the streets and on your ballots. I'm pretty sure we don't send people to jail anymore, so I have to think Skiboky is still out there throwing haymakers in Chelsea and plotting his next campaign. I look forward to his next shirtless video. Hopefully he address the punching.