Faith in humanity restored after fellow passengers kicked a man off a bus for being a massive racist

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Passengers “ejected” a man from a bus because of his reportedly “vile racist” behaviour. And while police are still searching for the abuser, the online response shows the strength of community action.

“The woman… remained calm and collected”

Brighton and Hove News reported that passengers “ejected” a man from a bus in Brighton for launching a racist tirade. The man, who hasn’t yet been identified, shouted: “f***ing Syrians” and “f***ing Muslims” at a woman and her children. Fellow passenger Mark Laverick tweeted photos of the culprit shortly after the incident, which happened on 6 July:

 

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Laverick told Brighton and Hove News that:

He launched into her for no reason. The woman wasn’t really responding to what was going on. … A couple of other passengers rallied round, and a big bloke from the back of the bus ejected him at Rock Gardens.

Another witness told Brighton-based paper the Argus that:

Throughout the encounter the woman who was on the receiving end remained calm and collected. It is a dreadful thing for her to have to experience, more so having such young children with her.

Bad behaviour

Local MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle led praise for the passengers’ actions:

But other Twitter users also commended the response:

While some pointed out irony in the man’s choice of t-shirt:

And one person said this type of action needs to be more common:

Safety and respect

Brighton and Hove Police are still searching for the man in the images and have asked people with information to “please contact us online or ring 101 quoting serial 1383 of 06/07.” Meanwhile, Brighton and Hove Buses managing director Martin Harris said the company “will not tolerate behaviour like this”. He added that all passengers “deserve to feel safe and respected” while travelling and that the company “will do everything to ensure they do”.

British Transport Police have reported huge increases in reported hate crimes on public transport. In the year April 2013 to March 2014 people reported a total of 2,116 crimes, for example, while figures were nearly double for April 2017 to March 2018 at 3,759.

It’s up to us to fight racism and other forms of bigotry. Brighton’s spontaneous community response is a perfect example of what we can all do when witnessing hatred. And by standing up to such abusive behaviour, we can all help each other to feel safe and respected.

Featured image via Wikimedia – hozinja

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