The cover of Tuesday's New York Post which shows a man moments before he was fatally struck by a subway train is sparking outrage from readers.
Han, a 58 year old father from Queens, was pushed into the subway tracks by "a deranged man" on Monday afternoon. One witness said that he was caught between the platform and the train, and dragged. The front page of the Post showed Han trying to lift himself back onto the platform at the 49th Street station as a Q train approached.
On Tuesday, readers asked why the photographer didn't try to help Han instead. The picture was taken by R. Umar Abbasi, whom the Post described as a "freelance photographer." The paper and Abbasi said that he was running toward the train and "repeatedly firing off his flash to warn the operator."
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Alexander Abad-Santos at the Atlantic Wire noted, "Getting a conductor's attention with a flash and maybe even blinding him with it doesn't seem like the way you'd necessarily help someone that's clinging to the subway platform."
Others on Twitter harshly criticized both Abbasi for taking the photo and the Post for running it. People called the paper "despicable" and the "trashiest of f-cking trash." "Real classy, NY Post. Real classy," one person wrote. Below, see some of the reactions on Twitter.
Capital New York reached out to four tabloid photographers for their takes, and they were not as quick to blame Abbasi. "Honestly, I can't fault this photographer," one photographer wrote, citing the other observers on the subway platform. "They're either all guilty of turning their back on [Han], or they're not. Can't lay blame on this guy alone."
