A 26-year-old Indian-origin woman, Gabrielle Forsyth, was subjected to racial abuse by a drunken man while traveling from London to Manchester on Sunday. The incident occurred when she was conversing with a fellow passenger about a charity supporting immigrants and mentioned that she worked for the organization.
The drunken man overheard their conversation and began hurling abuse and threats at Forsyth, Metro reported. A video of the incident captured his racist and xenophobic rant, during which he yelled at Forsyth and referenced England’s historical conquests. He also referred to fellow train passengers as “immigrants.”
In the video, the man was heard making racist remarks, saying, "You're in England, you are claiming something. You would not be in England if you weren’t claiming something. English people conquered the world and gave it back to you. We conquered India, we didn’t want it, we gave it back to you."
Watch:
The man continued his tirade, saying, "India belongs to England, and we gave it back. We did not want it. A lot of countries like that. Sorry about your f*ing sovereignty or whatever it is you are. Record me, cause I’m recording you."**
Towards the end of the video, he was heard making a disturbing remark: "I am not gonna hit you, I have a girl there that lives to get hit. She ain’t getting hit right now."
Recalling the incident, Forsyth described it as unsettling, stating, "He heard the word immigrant, and his bodily response was that of anger and aggression. It was very jarring. I feel very strongly that what he said was wrong. It was an insane situation. I videoed myself for protection. We were all visibly non-white."
Forsyth shared the video online and later revealed that her inbox was flooded with abuse. "The amount of hate I received is insane. I was called slurs I didn’t even know existed. With X making trolling easier, violent rhetoric and hate speech are spreading. I take pride in my identity and advocate for people of colour, but I believe we are backsliding," she said.