BURNABY, B.C. — An investigation is underway after several videos were posted on social media of what Metro Vancouver Transit Police say was a confrontation involving "profane and racially slanted language."
Transit police say in a news release that officers began the investigation after several videos were posted on Facebook following the confrontation on Monday afternoon.
Police say officers boarded a SkyTrain in Burnaby after someone used the emergency alert system and spoke to a witness who told them a woman had been swearing at an elderly couple before leaving the train.
The couple told officers they were fine and did not wish further police involvement.
Here's my angle of a sad incident on the Millenium line today. Racism and hate crime right here in Vancouver, the very city we call home. Another angle is here: https://www.facebook.com/ashley.christine.3551/posts/2176143215945594 This Caucasian woman was originally sitting in the empty seat you see in front of me and moved to a seat in front of an elderly Filipino couple who were talking to each other. After a minute or so she turned around and told them to quiet down, not nicely, calmly, or politely, but rather immediately snapped at them instead. The husband confronted her and their already heated conversation escalated when when she started yelling at the couple to "Shut up" and threatened to "call the police" on them (for talking??). She then threatened to get up and get off at the next stop and report the couple but didn't end up doing so because once she stood up is when she began her slew of racial slurs. Before the video starts is where she started calling the man "A stupid fucking Filipino" and that "[They] should learn to speak English" if they "decide to live in this country". Then she started saying the things you see in this video where she tells them to "go back to the fucking Philippines". As you'll see in the other video, she also mocks the elderly couple with a high-pitch, mocking voice, claiming that they said that "this is how we talk in our country". After she got off at Holdom (where you see in the other video), she came back in, mockingly got close to the elderly man's face and said "Bye fuckhead" and yelled "Fuck you" towards the couple before leaving the train again. I thought I had lost all hope for our city when this situation first began but once multiple people started defending the elderly couple, I knew that Vancouver was one to stand up against hate. The gentlemen that you hear in the video (one you'll see in the other angle) were defending the couple from this woman's attacks. One man behind me (that you hear at the beginning of my video) called her out for being "racist" and she denied it by saying "I'm not racist". While the other man (seen in the other video) defends them as well, but also gets attacked by this woman. After the woman left, three individuals, including myself, the man in the burgundy shirt and sunglasses that you see by the doors, and the woman in the white shirt and sunglasses in front of me, all apologized to the elderly couple. We three wished them a good rest of their day. At Brentwood station, where I got off, Translink police arrived and boarded the train (perhaps someone called or pressed the silent alarm?). There I also heard another witness report to the Translink workers that there had just been a woman aboard the train who "was swearing loudly". Throughout the entirety of the incident, the elderly Filipino man was defending himself and his wife from the woman's attacks, while the elderly Filipino woman was trying to calm her husband down, telling him, in Tagalog, to let it be as she was "already old". At one point they both looked to me for support and I told them, in Tagalog, not to worry. When I got off, I gave them both a "mano" and wished them a better rest of their day. Recently, our world has been no stranger to hate crimes. Situations like these, brought forth by ignorant and hateful people, only contribute to what has been happening. Though social media provides an illusion that these hate crimes happen in distant places, this afternoon was proof that it can happen anywhere, even in the city we call our home. Thank you, Vancouverites, for standing up against hate. Let's show the world that our city does not and will not tolerate this.
Posted by Paula Correa on Tuesday, 22 August 2017
Transit Police say they have identified a 75-year-old New Westminster woman who is known to them for documented anger-related issues, but there is nothing to indicate she raises concerns for public safety.
They say officers intend to interview her "with a discussion and warning about her behaviour and conduct when using the transit system."
"We are committed to ensuring our passengers enjoy a safe and comfortable ride when on the transit system. There is no place for offensive language, of any kind, on our buses, trains, SeaBuses or in our stations," police say.
This is probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. Unfiltered Vancouver racism. Shout out to the kid up front 👌
Posted by Ashley Klassen on Monday, 21 August 2017
