A white man was recorded hurling racist abuse at an African-American sanitation worker in Manhattan’s Upper East Side over the weekend, before assaulting a bystander who filmed the disturbing exchange.
The incident occurred on East 85th Street, between First and York Avenue at approximately 6pm on Saturday.
The man appears to be frustrated by a traffic up ahead and is seen getting out from his silver 2009 Pontiac Vibe to confront the source of the obstruction.
‘Hey yo, it’ll be smart to get out of the middle of the street a**hole,’ the man is heard yelling toward a sanitation worker situated further down the street, who is not in frame.
‘F***ing n*****,’ he remarked, as he climbed back into his vehicle, which bears Connecticut license plates.
A white man was recorded hurling racist abuse at an African-American sanitation worker in Manhattan’s Upper East Side over the weekend
The man appears to be frustrated by a traffic up ahead and is seen getting out from his silver 2009 Pontiac Vibe to confront the source of the obstruction
As the man climbs into the car, he notices a man recording him from the sidewalk.
‘Are you recording me?’ he asks the bystander, before asking him why he’s pointing a camera in his face.
The bystanders clarifies that he’s recording ‘because you’re an a**hole.’
‘I’m an a**hole? Honey, look in the mirror okay. The only person who is an a**hole is you for recording,’ the man retorts, while holding a cigarette in his hand.
The bystander sarcastically remarks, ‘Oh you are so fierce,’ in response to the driver’s insults.
‘I know. I am, thank you. Are you gay too?’ the man asks. ‘No? Well you look like it.’
The man then quizzes the bystander what he intends to do with the recording. When the bystander responds that he intends to post it online, the man laughs, before adding: ‘Okay. I’ll get fans, honey. That’s what I’ll do.’
Seemingly no longer sure about his declaration, the man threatens to ‘beat the s***’ out of the bystander, before exiting his vehicle and then approaching him.
‘What am I going to do? What am I going to do?’ he tells the bystander, his voice growing more agitated. ‘I’m going to take you f***ing phone’ he tells him, before pulling the device out of his hand.
A second angle captured by another onlooker shows the man assaulting the bystander and throwing his phone across the street.
‘I’m an a**hole? Honey, look in the mirror okay. The only person who is an a**hole is you for recording,’ the man retorts, while holding a cigarette in his hand
A second angle captured by another onlooker shows the man assaulting the bystander and throwing his phone across the street.
Prior to the recording, the man is alleged to have repeatedly racially abused the sanitation worker, yelling ‘you’re a n*****’, prompting several nearby residents to race down to the street.
City Council candidate and Brooklyn Black Lives Matter organizer Anthony Beckford tweeted the video, calling the man a ‘racist on the Upper East Side.’
‘This racist called a Black NY Sanitation worker the n-word. I will not tolerate that ever. After putting out the call, we were able to identify the racist aggressor. White man caught on video screaming n-word. He attacked the pedestrian filming him,’ he said.
DailyMail.com has not yet been able to verify the man’s identity.
The video has since been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media, with thousands condemning the racist behavior depicted.
Numerous members of the LGBTQ community were quick to disavow the man, saying he didn’t represent the views of the community and was no longer welcome in it.
‘A gay man who knows oppression yells a racial slur then assaults an individual for filming his actions,’ one user wrote. ‘This individual needs to be caught and charged with a hate crime and aggravated assault … This young man needs to look back at his own gay history. Back in the day up until present, minorities have united.’
‘This breaks my heart,’ opined another. ‘As a gay man he should know how hard we have fought and continue to fight for our rights and he should be on the right side of history by lifting up black people instead of using racial slurs. I am ashamed of him and I’m ashamed he is part of my community.’