A video of a man on the subway in New York City is sparking online attention, as well as conversation about how to respond to hateful, violent threats in public, after the man was seen cursing and apparently threatening to kill an Iranian couple who were on a Manhattan train over the weekend.
In a video post on Facebook, Mahsa Mehrdad described the experience she and Masih Rahmati encountered while riding a C train uptown from Penn Station Saturday night. A man apparently got on the train at around the 42nd Street station and eventually started cursing loudly at the couple for seemingly no reason.
“I only captured the last minute but he said several times that he would kill us right then and there because we were terrorists,” Mehrdad wrote.
In the video the man can be heard saying, “Talk, talk , talk. Will you talk when I put a fucking bullet in your head?”
“Donald Trump,” he continued. “Donald Trump is in the house.
“I’m going to kill all three of you at one time. You’re no fucking good. Go back to your country, my man,” the unidentified man later added.
It is not clear who was the third person he apparently included in his rant.
“We tried to stay calm and ignore him,” Mehrdad wrote. “The whole experience was sad and shocking.”
“What should we do in a situation like this? Should we remain silent or should we do something?” Mehrdad questioned. “What is a proper action to shut down racist comments while not escalating the situation?”
Mehrdad received responses, with some saying she acted just as she should have, while others recommended leaving the train car. Some also shared their own experiences with hatred.