Hey, there! Log in / Register

Green Line riders, trolley driver put themselves between woman in hijab and crazed screamer

Green Line bully

Camo-hatted bully in action. Photo by David Yamada.

A man's haranguing of a young Muslim woman that started on the Green Line platform at Prudential Saturday ended on a trolley when several people stood up and put themselves between them, according to one of the participants in the incident.

David Yamada, a professor at Suffolk University Law School - who focuses on workplace bullying - reports he was waiting for a trolley at Prudential early Saturday evening when he noticed a guy "annoying and haranguing passengers with his supposed Christian beliefs. It was merely obnoxious until he started to harass a young woman wearing a hijab."

The trolley came in, everybody got on and "he continued to make fun of her hijab and spouting off about Christianity to anyone who would listen (or not)."

And then, Yamada and at least three other people "intervened to move him away from her and told him to back off, for which she was very grateful." The trolley driver briefly stopped the train to join them and make sure the woman was OK. "There was no discussion about what to do; it was genuinely spontaneous."

Yamada adds: "I thought he might punch me when he saw me taking photos, but he was too much in his own head and rambled off at the next stop.

"There is power in numbers, including frankly the security of knowing that you're not the only one jumping in to help. I did get in one snarky comment of my own. As he left the train he said something about Jesus coming for all of us, and I said something like oh yes, pal, he's coming for you for sure!"

A similar incident on a Portland trolley in May ended with two men dead after, police say, the man doing the screaming pulled out a knife and stabbed them.

Last month, the city of Boston put up posters at some bus stops on ways people could step in when they see Islamaphobes in action.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

do I love my city.

up
Voting closed 0

The phrase gets used way to often. Not in this case.

up
Voting closed 0

IMAGE(https://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/boston-strong1.jpg)
          ( we're watching you — don't mess with us! )

up
Voting closed 0

I've been a daily T rider for over 40 years, but I have to say I am just about reaching critical mass with all the slobbering drunks, opiated zombies, screamers, extremely loud sob story guys, people defiantly smoking in the stations, oblivious people falling on the tracks and, sorry if I'm being politically incorrect, just plain out and out mentally ill people. I hate to be one of those people who say "it was better years ago" in some mythical time that never existed, because I have seen this type of behavior on the T for years. But it seems much, much more prevalent now. What has caused this upswing? Save for the clinically mentally ill who obviously need help, why can't people pull themselves together?

up
Voting closed 0

Marty closing Long Island and the northeast busing their mentally ill & homeless population to Boston hasn't helped.

up
Voting closed 0

Marty didn't close Long Island. The Commonwealth condemned the bridge.

up
Voting closed 0

Everything is your fault.

up
Voting closed 0

Because the CITY chose not to maintain and repair it. And the CITY chose to demolish the bridge without replacing it. Can't blame anyone but Marty for that last decision.

up
Voting closed 0

The bridge came down within the first year of the Walsh administration, which means technically, this is a headache that he inherited from St. Thomas of Readville (that would be the mayor before him, for those who don't vote in Boston elections.) If anyone is to blame, it would be the previous administration for not having a plan.

That said, the Menino administration did fight to get the bridge repaired, but they failed. Why? Because of the suburban city on the other side of the bridge, Quincy. Quincy blocked any repairs and will block replacement because, well, suburban people tend to be self righteous SOBs when it comes to Boston.

But let's just play a little game. Let's assume the City of Boston has unlimited money and power and that somehow the bridge issue suddenly sprung up in 2014. Do you really think that the bridge would have been completely replaced and opened by now? Out in my neck of the woods they are replacing a bridge with a road. They started in the spring of 2015 and are still working on it. To build a road. So no, the craziness in Boston, while perhaps helped by the closure of the bridge, would still be happening if somehow Walsh ran Massachusetts like he was Robert Moses.

We've been over this before here. Ad infinitum.

up
Voting closed 0

can effectively prevent another community from maintaining and repairing a portion of their infrastructure, to the point that said infrastructure is demolished and not replaced, that tells me there's something basically wrong with our planning process.

up
Voting closed 0

Why the actual (expletive) is Quincy, or anybody, telling the Athens of America what to do? How did we lose a (expletive)-measuring contest to the City of Presidents?

Maybe Boston should put a tollbooth on the bridge where Ups and Downs used to be. Does Quincy have resident parking stickers? If they do, $12 toll to enter Boston with one via that bridge. Hell, we should do that with Brookline.

up
Voting closed 0

There's an idea. Don't just be selfish with your transportation resources by limiting parking to resident permitholders -- get spiteful towards specific neighboring communities.

up
Voting closed 0

You probably don't know much about the bridge, but one end of the bridge was in Quincy, which means Quincy definitely had a say in the matter, and their idea was to keep Boston from rebuilding the bridge until it fell down, which it did. Check out You probably don't know much about the bridge, but one end of the bridge was in Quincy, which means Quincy definitely had a say in the matter, and their idea was to keep Boston from rebuilding the bridge until it fell down, which it did. Check out this article from that this article from that period when Walsh was elected but Menino was still in office to see more of the tale. And that's why Quincy sucks.

As far as how this could happen, let me put it to you this way. Do you really want Walsh or the City of Boston to be able to do things in your suburban town without any say from the community?

up
Voting closed 0

But as a practical matter, they have the leverage to do so.

up
Voting closed 0

Sure, Marty inherited the issue. But what has he done to solve the issue since taking office? Lots of lip service, but no workable solution to replace what Long Island provided.

He is not blameless here, and all of us can see what his lack of action is causing in the city, every day.

up
Voting closed 0

And that should have been the goal. He met the goal. That they are no longer where the services were once provided is a shame (yes, shame on you, City of Quincy) but what can you do?

up
Voting closed 0

At the least, I'd love for our mayor to be straightforward with us. The Long Island bridge project was in the 2018 budget, but no money has been requested, no environmental permits/proposals submitted, no actual plan outlined.

If having services on Long Island is no longer necessary, then tell your constituents that. Be straightforward and explain what was put in its stead. Don't just say "No new updates on the project" and move along and hope everyone forgets.

up
Voting closed 0

start to really give a sh*t about the mentally ill and those with addictions, you will continue to see human beings with those illnesses on the T.

And those with mental illness or addictions can just "pull themselves together", my friend. As someone with both mental illness as well as addiction in my close and extended families, I can attest that line thinking is so erroneous as to be dangerous.

up
Voting closed 0

The person you're responding to specifically said "except for those with mental illness" in her post. She is not blaming the mentally ill for all the T's woes, since she states that they obviously need help, she is also pointing out your average schmo who's just not paying attention/drunk on the tracks/throwing trash on the tracks that gets caught on fire, etc. etc. etc.

up
Voting closed 0

Shoot, maybe the whole world is. But our public education system is poor, our values as a society are in the toilet, we're over-prescribed, young people are more concerned with being cool on social media than building a foundation to grow in (generalizing but its true for a lot of kids), our political leaders sucks, the list goes on and on. Cliff notes, things will get worse before they get any better.

up
Voting closed 0

The problem is that a certain administration and set of legislators dismantled the mental health system in the state and replaced it with ... NOTHING. Thank Weld, Bulger, and Finneran for that.

Oh, and Mr. NYC, guess what: kids on social media have shit-all to do with the fact that they CANNOT BUILD A FOUNDATION WHEN THEY ARE BEING REAMED FROM EVERY DIRECTION by high debts to get what their parents got for nearly free (both college and what used to be on-the-job training) extreme rents and house prices and wages that have been screwed down at every turn.

Think of that the next time some dumbshit trustfund wag whines that unemployment is too expensive and should be replaced by a for-profit training system and loans for that.

up
Voting closed 0

What does that have to do with anything? And for the record I'm still a Bostonian.

Doesn't matter why, but it is what it is now. Mental health is a serious issue that doesn't seem to be going away.

Also, nothing to do with the point. Values for kids now days dwell a lot more in the short term than the long term. Look at the girl who encouraged the kid to kill himself so that she could get some sympathy attention. That has nothing to do with being reamed from anything or anyone.

up
Voting closed 0

A year after he was elected, Dukakis finally signed two tax programs, the largest in state history, to raise more than $300 million. He kept a meat cleaver by his desk, a harsh symbol of his attempts to hack away another $300 million in state spending. The cuts were brutal: mental hospitals, medical care for the disabled, drugs for the elderly. LA Times, January 17, 1988

---
Nice attempt to blame Weld (Republican in Name Only) for cuts made years prior by Dukakis (Democrat.) Releasing the mentally ill created the lucrative poverty industry with directors of these "non-profits" making well over six figures each year. Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO, Greater Boston Food Bank: $298,259 Boston Magazine, 2010. Joe Kennedy, $596,998 for "1-800-Joe-For-Oil." One can only imagine the salary numbers today, seven years later.

up
Voting closed 0

Did you work in mental health care at the time? Of course you didn't. I did. I worked in a group home for low pay that just kept getting lower.

Weld slashed everything, promising that there would be community care supports. Then he slashed what few of those were left. The Globe did an article on it a couple of years ago. Weld and his buddies in the Great and General Court. https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/the-desperate-and-the-dead/

up
Voting closed 0

I'm heartened by the story, but confused by the photo: Which person is the bully in action?

up
Voting closed 0

In the camo hat.

up
Voting closed 0

...save me from (some of) your followers.

up
Voting closed 0

More reading.

up
Voting closed 0

Where is she in the picture? Or Fake News?

up
Voting closed 0

Reread the original post. And try to figure out on your own why Yamada might not have included her in a photo.

up
Voting closed 0

I read the post, I don't see any woman in a jihab the photo. This guy could've made up the story, like the Globe writer did about the racial comments at Fenway. I just see a bunch of people looking back at the camera, if there was a picture of the confrontation, it's easier to believe.

up
Voting closed 0

In any case, there are a couple of possibilities here. One is that not everybody whips their phone out at the first sign of trouble, especially when one is getting directly involved in said trouble, and he may have simply not gotten her.

The other is that even if he did, he realized that if you realize a woman has just been attacked for the way she looks and what she believes, in a society where such people already have enough problems, the last thing you'd want to do is to make her photo public for all the other haters out there.

up
Voting closed 0

I understand, i zoomed in, even to look off the reflection of the windows for her. There's no need to hide her, she's in a hijab, it's similar to ISIS terrorists, you can't really get a physical description. If it did happen, obviously it's a shame.

up
Voting closed 0

Why are you so concerned about finding her image?

To help prove this really happened? What if I hadn't run the picture at all?

up
Voting closed 0

He wants to smash her in the head with a giant mallet while making wiseacre remarks and eating carrots.

up
Voting closed 0

You just compared the victim of a hate crime to ISIS terrorists?

up
Voting closed 0

When one wears a hijab, her face is visible.

Also, as Adam notes, why do we need to see a photograph of her? Or any photograph, for that matter? Back in the day, people didn't carry cameras around all the time. Heck, I don't get much from the photograph of the alleged asshat, so I can't figure the value of it.

Still, let's stick to the story, which was a bad situation with some people trying to make it better.

up
Voting closed 0

A hijab is just a scarf worn over the hair. Queen Elizabeth wears headscarves. If they're supposed to act as a disguise then Her Maj should definitely go with this ISIS costume you're referring to because anonymity is not a feature provided by the scarf.

up
Voting closed 0

no women wearing jihabs in this photo, or any other for that matter.

Here, you can hold onto my arm while I escort you back under your rock.

up
Voting closed 0

to let your autofellating, inane rambling discredit itself, you've decided to take a non-sequitur swipe at a good friend of mine, so I feel the need to point out to casual readers, who might not recognize your alias as the copraphagic purveyor of right-wing fantasies that it is, that (a) he's not a Globe writer, (b) his story was verified by three people including the perp himself, and (c) I've watched him scrape things off the bottom of his shoe that have more credibility, integrity, and sensibility than anything you've ever written under that Chuck Jones handle of yours. Kindly fuck off and die.

up
Voting closed 0

Not all mental health problems need to present as mumblers or "crazy." Not to excuse the guy's behavior. I just wonder what would lead him off the cliff so to speak.

It's just human that there are folks walking around ready to go berserk. Given the correct circumstances perhaps any person who regularly posts here could. Circumstances ranging from death of a loved one to loosing ones home to anything. If the person has enough of a social network, access to psychological help and the presence of mind to realize that help is needed then hopefully there would be no going off the deep end.

But his guy probably is already fearful and perhaps constantly anxious. Something happens in his life that is overwhelming to him and wind up being vented against someone who he has been told by others is the enemy.

Isn't that part of what we see with Trump? Trump, Bannon, Kelly Anne, the many liars of the Trump crowd validate this kind of behavior. They in effect give the imprimatur to yell and scream, whether with religiously framed thoughts or thoughts of some other kind agains the targets that the right has made to be acceptable today.

It's tough to be on the right. The traditional targets of the American right are just no longer allowed at least in a place such as Boston. Railing against Commies makes person sounds nuts; railing against gays could get some backlash that in the past would never happen (including a punch in the face - bigots finally realize that the limp wristed pansie is myth).

So now go after the people they think they can get away with trying to harm with words and intimidation: Muslims, immigrants, etc.

What the guy did is wrong and he is culpable. But even a bigot is still human.

up
Voting closed 0

We all know trump administration invented bullying.
STOP THE MADNESS!!!!###

up
Voting closed 0

Tolerate, promote, escalate, and reward bullying? Yes. Prevent punishment for bullying when "religious freedom" is involved? Absolutely.

up
Voting closed 0

Yes, he is a human being. However, he is a human who was verbally assaulting another human being. That, in itself, is worth fighting against.

Most mentally ill people (and there is a wide variety of mental illnesses), and I say most (as someone who has mental illness on both sides of my family) do not do what this man did to this woman. This was targeted hate. And there are plenty of christian "preachers" on the T that rant and rave but do not target hate against another human being.

up
Voting closed 0

The trolley came in, everybody got on and "he continued to make fun of her hijab and spouting off about Christianity to anyone who would listen (or not)."

I find this too incredible to be believed. Was an intoxicated homeless person ranting and raving, or a "Christian" trying to belittle a Muslim? Neither the African American man beside the "suspect" nor the mom and son enjoying the ride, appear concerned.

As an officer of the court, or at least a professor at Suffolk, did the professor notify Transit Police? Status of the investigation? Did people really intervene to stop a hostile act? The photo has no significance, merely shows people riding on a trolley. Interesting that a person who depends on bullying for his career would find it on a random Saturday. Baker should hire him for the T Police. This smacks of Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones being the only one who heard the "n-word" at Fenway in a crowd of 37,000. The platforms and trolleys have plenty of video cameras. Can't wait!

up
Voting closed 0

This comment belongs in the Hall of Fame -- of idiocy. I haven't seen such a collection of head-wedged nonsense in months.

up
Voting closed 0

They only got the back of his head.

up
Voting closed 0

Sock_Puppet, You actually make a great observation about the "back of his head." Despite the gripping narrative of the professor's story, and his apparent proximity to the suspect, we can't see the suspect's face, although we see many other faces of people. As others have noted, we don't see a woman in a hijab. Adam, "reasons" this is to protect her identity while women and children witnesses are clearly shown without masking their images, putting them at potential risk. No video or audio recording option on the phone that would prove the story, just a meaningless still pic?

As for police reacting to a third-party claim that "this woman was assaulted," that's a start but the actual victim would have to say the same. In most cases, "no victim, no crime" is the rule. Thousands of potential domestic assault cases are broomed every year when the victim says her black eye and bloody nose were the result of a fall. Reporters should demand the T Police confirm or reject these serious allegations. Plenty of cameras and witnesses, let's hear it.

up
Voting closed 0

You sure are special.

up
Voting closed 1

"Officer Fish, this woman was assaulted"
"Nah, that doesn't sound right to me"

up
Voting closed 1

too incredible to be believed.

up
Voting closed 0

I find this too incredible to be believed.

That's because you're a bigot yourself, as well as selectively blind and deaf.

Interesting that a person who depends on bullying for his career would find it on a random Saturday.

Indeed, anyone who didn't flunk seventh grade math would conclude that incidents such as this probably happen much more often than just this once.

up
Voting closed 0

What you describe has happened before.

But then I considered that I've seen a lot of noteworthy things that don't get publicized. And maybe things like this happen a lot, and it just got noticed and publicized because the guy happens to be interested in the topic and visible.

Then I also considered that I shouldn't go throwing around public accusations against a person's character just because I had a suspicion after reading some report.

up
Voting closed 1

Funny, we can see a lot of faces in the images, except the face of the "suspect." Is that an unfortunate coincidence or planned to avoid a lawsuit? Thankfully the MBTA has a lot of cameras and a lot of spokesmen. We have all seen pics and announcements from the T for far less than the felony Civil Rights violations alleged here so it will be interesting to see what they have to say. Maybe a reporter can get around to it.

up
Voting closed 0

There was no way that there were 37,000 at Fenway on a weeknight in May against the O's.

up
Voting closed 0

You're right, Will, the latest game where Adam Jones heard a racist comment had 33489, apparently hearing impaired. Nobody else heard it, no criminal charges. Speaking of which, when will the Red Sox identify the fan who allegedly made racist comments about the national anthem singer from Kenya that same week and was reportedly banned for life? Silence from John Henry and his Globe. Shouldn't that person be identified and charged?

Ironically that story about racism was told by an Ebony columnist who writes about racism and the T bullying story is told by a professor on bullying. I hope these two are playing Mega Millions with that luck. The only thing worse than these stories being true is if they are less than true and the "Racist Boston" stigma is allowed to linger without challenge.

Game Info
Baltimore Orioles @ Boston Red Sox: May 1, 2017
Venue: Fenway Park
Attendance: 33489
Duration: 3:10
Weather: 47 degrees, Low Clouds
Wind: 9 MPH In From Center
Umpires: HP: Greg Gibson. 1B: D.J. Reyburn. 2B: Sam Holbrook. 3B: Jim Wolf.

up
Voting closed 1

Shouldn't that person be identified and charged?

1.) No
2.) Charged with what? It's not illegal to be a bigoted moron. You prove that point on a daily basis.

up
Voting closed 0

Look up what assault is. Check out harassment, too, while you are at it.

up
Voting closed 0

I disagree vehemently. To allow these stories to stand without verification does tremendous damage to the city's image. If the banned fan exists, he needs to be identified or cleared. Bigoted comments by me? Cite? As I wrote at the time, if John Henry and the Red Sox really banned a fan for whispering racist comments about a Kenyan singer to a black Ebony writer, Henry should have taken out a full page ad in his Boston Globe announcing the ban of the racist fan. Barnicle might even get a column out of it, like the fake black kid and white kid on their deathbed's at Children's Hospital who became friends and cured their parent's racism. We've all heard of how few spectators at Fenway are black so it's particularly intriguing that the racist fan would find a black Ebony writer and whisper a racist comment, a day or two after Jones made his unsubstantiated claims. Millions at Fenway since May, was that just a bad week in spring? No racism since?

Trespassing is only punishable "after notice." Henry should take a stand against racism and notify the alleged racist fan with a full page legal notice in the Globe. Perfectly legal if true but I suspect that Henry knows that wouldn't survive a libel suit. Concealing the identity of the phantom Fenway racist should be a story in itself. Instead, crickets.

up
Voting closed 0

Not tickets scanned. There weren't 33,000 in the house on a weeknight May 1st, especially not with a gametime temperature of 47 degrees!

up
Voting closed 0

Reported breathlessly here, at the Globe, all over? Right after the election, driving through the Wellesley campus, viciously harassing Hilary supporters. Specifically targeting African American students?

The story was reported and repeated in very similar fashion. The students were expelled. An investigation was launched.

And then: Oopsies. Never mind. Almost none of the hysterical "details" could be substantiated. But there was no public apology by the "news" outlets and those kids lives were smashed for five weeks.

This one has a similar feel to me.

up
Voting closed 0

Video of the harassment and everything.

The cops just couldn't bring themselves to deal with Daddy's Lawyers who said there was nothing to see even though lots of people saw it.

Did I mention video?

up
Voting closed 0

How come the video was never release to the public? How come the woman who made the video never went to the press with it?

The only thing I saw was a video of 2 frat boys driving away from Wellesley College going on about how they were just kicked off the campus for celebrating Trump's election. And the later video where they (or at least one of them) apologized for their actions. And they were both done by the frat boys.

The accepted story line is that the two guys acted like asses going over to Wellesley and shouting how Trump was going to make America great again, but the more serious allegations of racist and sexist language were unsubstantiated. Unless this video of which you speak shows it.

up
Voting closed 0

This did all happen, dear.

The cops and universities chose not to bring charges.

That doesn't mean it didn't happen - in fact, there is substantial video of the tresspassing and harassing.

up
Voting closed 0

And then: Oopsies. Never mind. Almost none of the hysterical "details" could be substantiated. But there was no public apology by the "news" outlets and those kids lives were smashed for five weeks.

Yes, I remember that the Babson College administration couldn't seem to find any details to corroborate the bad behavior of their students. Odd, that.

up
Voting closed 0

Odd, that.

Odder still if the Babson College administration had the means to find out about something that happened on the Wellesley College campus.

up
Voting closed 0

Odder still if the Babson College administration had the means to find out about something that happened on the Wellesley College campus.

Yes, odd that they had the wherewithal to call the Wellesley administration and say, "Say, we think two of our students might have been involved, could you please ask the complainants to contact us? And, if you have any relevant security video, could we have a look?"

up
Voting closed 0

Collect and analyze information. Sift through data and make statistical inference from their findings.

Make the world a better place based on FACTS, LOGIC, CRITICAL THINKING and INTERVENTION.

Sorry if bullying, your stock in trade, has now fallen under scrutiny rather than be the sacred cow of hateful cops.

That fat pension you suck off of at our expense is the result of fact finding, data crunching, and facing up to reality of senior citizens starving to death.

up
Voting closed 0

I find this too incredible to be believed. Was an intoxicated homeless person ranting and raving, or a "Christian" trying to belittle a Muslim? Neither the African American man beside the "suspect" nor the mom and son enjoying the ride, appear concerned.

If your deductive skills are so great that you can tell this from one photograph, they're far too valuable to be wasted here on UHub. Get out there and solve some crimes!

up
Voting closed 0

Stamp out the virus that is Trumpism

up
Voting closed 0

Where the transit police notified of this rolling hate crime? Did they respond and how long did it take for them to get there. According to their website that have a force of about 275 officers where are they when you need them.

up
Voting closed 0

Can somebody link us to news of any official response to this incident ? Everywhere else seems to be shamefully silent about it.

up
Voting closed 0

I'd say I am verbally assaulted by crazy people a couple of times per month, and have my life threatened by one maybe once or twice per year. It's not like it's front page news when it happens.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm glad to hear this.

It helps counteract how I'm feeling about an incident last week. A woman got angry at a T bus driver who made her pay. The passenger started yelling about how she hates T drivers, "especially the lesbians". And when I called her out on it, bystanders started yelling at *me*.

up
Voting closed 0

I saw a very similar incident unfold on the Orange Line, not too long ago. The women in question, who were sitting quietly when they were verbally attacked and berated for "looking Middle Eastern", were right in front of me. People had to jump in and tell the guy to leave them alone. We didn't call the conductor or the cops. We just dealt with it. We didn't take photos.

I'm surprised at the comments from people who disbelieve the story. This kind of thing happens all the time. I've heard credible accounts of numerous other incidents. They are rarely reported or documented. Probably they should be, but at the time something is occurring people are generally trying to defuse the situation, not draw it out.

up
Voting closed 0

Nobody doubts these incidents sometimes occur, the skeptics are just looking for some word from MBTA brass who have access to cameras and their trolley driver that might confirm the alleged incident. With a number of multi-million dollar news operations in the city, it would be nice if they assigned a reporter or even a summer intern to get a quote from MBTA investigators.

Charlie Baker himself along with MBTA Police Chief Kenneth Green should step to the forefront and say whether this incident happened or it didn't. Very easy. Like the questionable Fenway incident, there are firm legal grounds to expose the perpetrator in public. By failing to do so, it just perpetuates the "Racist Boston" stereotype with flimsy evidence provided by those with a special interest in the topic. The MBTA and its multitude of police and spokespersons have had almost eight hours today for the press release but the local news will show a car fire on 495 instead of demanding answers.

up
Voting closed 0

it would be nice if they assigned a reporter or even a summer intern to get a quote from MBTA investigators.
Charlie Baker himself along with MBTA Police Chief Kenneth Green should step to the forefront and say whether this incident happened or it didn't.

How many incidents PER DAY do you think there are, of crazy person harassing innocent bystander on the T? If Charlie Baker or Kenneth Green made a statement about every single one, they wouldn't have time to get anything else done.

up
Voting closed 0

Your obsession with the Globe, Baker, et. al has caused you to lose the point of the story: Bostonians united to protect someone who was the target of religion-based (not racist) hate. Nobody has called this a racist incident, the photo of the alleged perp depicts someone who does not appear to be a white supremacist. As the first commenter noted, they all (minus the perp) represented our city well.

up
Voting closed 0

The example in Portland Or had a negative outcome due to the situational differences. While this incident in Boston had a more positive result, the two events are very different. I'm from Portland ,Or . The Portland stabbings were preventable if specific interventions could've taken place.I work in the mental health field and discussing this case with peers ,we all came to that same conclusion: One was the ranting man who was already in a state of psychosis, shouldve been ejected from the train hours prior by Transit Police. . The man in Portland had been ranting for at least an hour previous to the other passengers getting on, according to witness reports. The assailant in Portland had a prior history of violent behavior and lashing out and had spent most of his adult life in the penal system. Later he admitted to Police to a stabbing in downtown Portland ,so he was already predisposed to homicidal actions. . Physically intervening in that case was extremely dangerous given the assailants mental state,record of homicidal actions, and instability. The victims unfortunately were not properly trained to deal with someone like that . They acted with good intentions but with a tragic outcome. Forensically, to confront someone in that state ,already agitated,ranting and aggressively posturing is unsafe. What should've happened is the targets of this mans diatribe should've been moved away from him, THe 3 males and the 2 young females, his objects of fixation, should've deboarded the train. The ranter /assailant in Portland only started fixating on the two young girls wearing the hijab after they got on. That indicates symptomatic behaviors . He would've ranted about anything random but once they got on he fixated on them as mentally unstable people do. They also fueled his delusional thought process and reinforced his White supremacist belief system. The Portland case wasn't a case of a white supremacist targeting Muslim girls in a hijab,but a mentally unstable individual fixating on those girls because of their hijabs. He didn't specifically board that train to target Muslims, He was a lone wolf ,who was mentally unstable and decompensating who latched onto a fixation. Its also important to note that even Fascist / Right Groups wouldn't claim this man as a member of their community. Clearly the case in Portland Or, is also testament to systemic failures that allowed this dangerous volatile individual to walk free,unmonitored ,untreated, undiagnosed and unsupervised. That's an important key difference. The way he stabbed his victims is telling as well. He had his fist balled up with a four inch blade protruding from the middle of his fingers. He basically hard punched his victims with the blade. he did this after the 3 males surrounded him and one of them ,well intentioned, gently put his hand on the assailants chest and told him to calm down, according to witness reports. . The offender was already agitated and elevated, so that action would've been a trigger to attack. That's why when people are in that state ,its best to dis engage and get to a physically safe space ,away from them. They are not processing anything rationally so anything you say or do will be perceived as an attack. The killer in Portland attacked the 3 males the way a convict does. The balled up fist with a blade concealed within is a convict trick . Anyone that's works in the field and is familiar with clinically symptomatic behaviors recognized what happened. There was a lot more going on in the Portland scenario than how the media spun it as a simple case of Muslim targeting and White Supremacist attack. . Really the conversation should also focus on why this man was in the prison system so long and why his mental symptoms weren't treated in all that time,and how he was released without proper monitoring. . Boston case had a better outcome because there was timely intervention by not only the passengers but the driver as well, ejecting him from the train. the principal agitator was also not an ex convict with a violent homicidal history.

up
Voting closed 0