The stepson of former New York governor David Paterson was bravely hit in the head after standing in front of him when they were ambushed by a gang.
Anthony Chester Sliwa, 20, and Paterson, 70, managed to fight off the thugs who attacked them on New York City’s Upper East Side around 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
Curtis Silwa, leader of the Guardian Angels vigilante group and Anthony’s biological father, explained how he and Paterson, who is legally blind, “held their ground” against three teenagers and two much older adult attackers.
“David is blind so at first he couldn’t see what was happening, so Anthony had to guide him and then get in front of him and take a lot of hits,” Silwa told DailyMail.com.
“He said adults were the most affected.”
Former New York Governor David Paterson was savagely attacked by a trio of teenagers after he and his stepson tried to stop them from climbing a fire escape in Manhattan.
Anthony Chester Sliwa, 20, was bravely hit on the head after standing in front of Paterson when they were ambushed by a gang.
Silwa said his son, who was trained in martial arts by the Guardian Angels, told him, “I did what I had to do, Dad” when they spoke Saturday morning.
‘I told him I was very proud of him, that they were both true New Yorkers. “They stood their ground, they didn’t back down, they didn’t run away,” he said.
Anthony suffered a split lip and was awaiting a CT scan to see if he had a concussion.
Paterson’s representatives previously said the former governor suffered minor injuries to his face and body.
Silwa said they were both discharged from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in the early morning hours and were not admitted.
However, Silwa said he hoped they would be “traumatized” by the attack and “never be the same again.”
Curtis Silwa (left), leader of the Guardian Angels watchdog group and Anthony’s biological father (pictured together), explained how he and Paterson, who is legally blind, “stood firm.”
David Paterson, 70, and his stepson, Anthony Chester Sliwa, 20, encountered the teens on Second Avenue near East 96th Street shortly before 9 p.m. Friday.
A confrontation apparently broke out after Paterson and his son told the three young men to stop climbing the fire escape.
Silwa explained that the couple was walking the family dog along their usual route when Anthony saw three teenagers climbing a fire escape at a local mosque.
He said there was a brief verbal argument before Paterson and Anthony continued on their way.
But when they walked around the block, they were spotted by the three teenagers, who were with an adult man and woman inside a McDonalds on Second Avenue, near East 96th Street.
The five immediately attacked them in front of dozens of witnesses, of whom Silwa stated that none of them intervened.
The attack was filmed on multiple security cameras and police are searching for the attackers, Silwa said.
The teenagers then launched a senseless attack on the 70-year-old man and his son. Both suffered facial injuries.
After the incident, the former governor was rushed to Cornell Medical Center in New York, where his condition was reported to be “fine.”
Paterson’s spokesman previously said the governor and his stepson “suffered some injuries but were able to fend off their attackers.”
The statement goes on to say that “they have already filed a police report.”
After the attack, the group of teenagers quickly fled the scene. The authorities were looking for them.
Paterson, a Democrat, was the 55th governor of New York, serving from 2008 to 2010.
He was the first legally blind person to assume the office of governor of any state. And he was the first black governor of New York.