An Indian American family who was verbally attacked with a racist rant on a United Airlines shuttle bus is planning to press charges against the woman who called them “not American.”
Pervez Taufiq, 50, was traveling from Mexico to Los Angeles with his wife and three young children when he says a woman accosted him — first telling his kids to “shut up” and then, when he pushed back, hurling racial slurs at them. Taufiq’s recording of the Nov. 23 incident has gone viral on social media, directing a firestorm of anger toward the attacker.
“What was most disappointing is that there’s no level of contrition, no level of remorse,” Taufiq told NBC News.
Taufiq did not initially file a police report, but he said the attacker’s identity has been shared with him and now he intends to press charges.
A woman gave an interview to L.A. Fox News affiliate Fox 11 on Tuesday, admitting to the incident and saying she had been provoked by Taufiq and his wife. She asked not to be named by the outlet.
Taufiq feels sorry for her, he said, but doesn’t feel by her responses that she is remorseful. He plans to start the process of pressing charges because he wants to make it clear that her behavior was not OK, he said. It’s not clear whether the police will charge the woman with a crime.
Pervez Taufiq, 50, and his family. Taufiq captured a video in which he and his kids were attacked with racism on a United Airlines bus.
Taufiq said the harassment began on the flight from Mexico, when she approached his 11-year-old son, who was sitting apart from the family, and questioned him about his race. On the shuttle bus from the aircraft to Los Angeles International Airport, video documents her putting up her middle fingers and insulting the family, calling them “stinky” and “tandoori.”
“Your family is from India, you have no respect, you have no rules,” she said in the video. She then reached for her phone and said she was going to record while calling him “tandoori” in a derogatory way.
In the interview with Fox 11, the woman blamed her behaviour on a previous brain injury.
“Most people know me as a very kind, calm person, but since the brain injury I get agitated very easily,” she said.
She also accused Taufiq of verbally attacking her first with a derogatory term for white people.
Taufiq denies using any harmful terms, but says he did tell her to shut up after she yelled at his 4-year-old son.
“The one thing I don’t want my kids to do is see their dad lay down,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
