Man hurls racial slurs to people on subway train car
WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn -- Wild video shows a man hurling racial slurs at people inside a subway car. The outraged riders on the L train finally took matters into their own hands, and kicked the guy off the train.
"During the whole time, I was just like 'don't get punched in the face!'" said Tariq Hamami.
Hamami was just inches from a man whose hostile rant brought New Yorkers together. Hamami spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News.
"When he started yelling the 'N word' out, to just kind of block him from saying that, that's why I put my hands up in the front," he said.
See the raw video here:
The chaos went down Saturday afternoon on board a Brooklyn-bound L. Hamami tells Eyewitness News the man bumped into an African-American woman, words were exchanged, and then the man, who was holding an alcoholic beverage, started spewing racial slurs.
Things went from bad to worse - the man zeroed in on two black men. Hamami did his best to separate the group, as the instigator yelled he was a legal scholar who went to NYU.
"He said 'hit me, hit me, hit me - that's assault,'" Hamami adds.
By the time the train pulled into the Bedford Avenue stop, everyone had enough, calling the man a racist. The crowd banded together and forced the man off. He ended up on the ground. Soup and bottles were flying.
An NYPD officer was waiting on the platform, and Hamami filled him in on what happened.
"He put some rubber gloves and signaled to the MTA crew to close the door," said Hamami.
It appears the man has done this before. Cellphone video shot in August shows a nearly identical profanity-laced tantrum. Craig Williams, the man's neighbor, says he couldn't believe it.
"One day I was standing in front of building and he was like 'get out of the way you N!' and I'm like 'what?' I turned around and was like 'excuse me, who are you talking to?'" Williams says.
