Metro Vancouver Transit Police is appealing for witnesses in the case where group of teenagers visiting Canada from Brazil were assaulted aboard the 95 B-Line bus.
News 1130 reporter Lauren Boothby captured the incident on video.
VIDEO: Transit Police are looking at this incident as a possible hate crime. A woman smash her backpack into a teen’s face on the 95 B Line because she was speaking Portuguese with her friends. She is visiting Vancouver from Brazil @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/J99URmwrV2
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
Boothby later tweeted she was impressed that the police force responded to her text in less than a minute.
To clarify, regardless of whether the victim is in Canada or not, Transit Police will conduct a thorough investigation and all of our evidence will be forwarded to Crown Council. https://t.co/PgChooZRve
— Metro Vancouver Transit Police (@TransitPolice) July 22, 2019
In the video, the woman be seen launching her backpack towards someone seated near the exit door of the bus.
THREAD: I just witnessed a racist assault by this woman on a teenage girl who was visiting Canada from Portugal. She smashed her backpack into the teen’s face as she was getting off the bus. She did it because she wasn’t speaking English. @NEWS1130 1/ pic.twitter.com/63HLkhdPOT
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
Right before she got off the bus, I heard her tell the woman she was with: “I’m going to grab her by the hair and throw her off the fucking bus.” She was mad at a group of teens for speaking Portuguese. They are visiting Canada from Brazil. 2/
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
Here is video I took of the attack. Again this was intentional and aggressive because she told her friend she was going to attack her before she exited. 3/ pic.twitter.com/socKAb253J
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
Here is when I first got on the bus. The white woman was yelling at a group of 5 teens from Brazil for speaking in English, saying they are making “snickering comments.” And another man speaks up and says: “she doesn’t speak for the majority (of Canadians.” 4/ pic.twitter.com/ojooHBuZmk
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
The five teens — 15 and 17 years old — were really shaken up after the attack. They were crying, saying they felt afraid and angry. 5/
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
.@TransitPolice is investigating this now. I know this because I reported this as a crime and they interviewed me about it. More updates here: https://t.co/gwssg0BucR
— Lauren Boothby (@laurby) July 22, 2019
PHOTO: Lauren Boothby / @laurby