Melbourne CBD, February 18: A Horse and Carriage driver unleashed a violent and racist tirade on a shocked passerby.
It all started on Velntine’s Day, with a simple protest by Animal activists who were against the horse and carriage rides, currently available in Melbourne CBD.
Melbourne Against Horse Drawn Carriages campaign manager Kristin Leigh was protesting and the initial victim of the driver’s abuse.
The Melbourne horse and carriage driver yelled profanities in the city’s CBD to the shock of all tourists and passers-by; until a pedestrian decided to step in.
The pedestrian asked the driver to watch his tongue trying to protect a woman, when; he became the target and copped racist abuse. The man presumably of Indian origin was called a “black bit of s**t” in a racial tirade that was caught on film.
Turning on to his new target, the driver shocked many bystanders, yelling “Go and get f***ed idiot. F*** off”.
“Yeah you wanna have a crack do ya? C’mon, have a crack.”
While the man just stood there calmly, with his hands in his pocket, he was further ridiculed and instigated.
“Put your hands on me. I’ll break your f***ing jaw,” the driver said.
“C’mon. C’mon. Have a crack. Have a crack.
“Have a crack you bit of s**t.
“Put your hands on me and see what I do, you bit of s**t.”
The woman who was the initial target then attempted to stop the driver but the driver was relentless. Although, he walked over to the other side of the road, he yelled:
“C’mon you weak dog,” he yells again while begging him across the road with a finger.
“C’mon put your hands on me and see what I do to you, you black bit of s**t.”
The video of the tirade was posted on Facebook by Animal Liberation Victoria. In a statement, the group termed the incident as, “vile racism and threats of violence do not belong on our streets”.
Kristin Leigh speaking about the incident said that she had taken every measure to “avoid any direct confrontation” and was taking photographs of “horses which I do quite often to document things. I didn’t say a word.”
“We’re horrified at what happened to this gentleman who was just sticking up for us,” she said.
Balwinder ‘Bunny’ Shergill who had earlier taken a horse-carriage ride on the day, said that he would not term the incident as “racist”.
Witnessing the entire occurrence, Bunny said that it was initially a ‘verbose’ from someone who could lose his livelihood due to the protest.
“Then when a passerby stepped in to help a woman, the rant fell on him, who happened to be a non-white. It was more like road-rage of trying to secure your place”.
While Bunny congratulated the “Road-Knight” for stepping in, as did many other by-standers, Bunny said it would not be wise to term every small incident as “racism”.
Ramakrishna VenuGopal