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Mass. family who filmed racist airport rant hopes to identify woman and press charges
The unidentified woman was caught on video flashing her middle fingers and hurling insults at photographer Pervez Taufiq and his family.
A Massachusetts family says they were subjected to a fellow traveler’s racist tirade after flying into Los Angeles last month — a disturbing altercation captured in a now-viral video.
“My blood is boiling right now,” Pervez Taufiq said in the Nov. 24 clip, largely recorded as he and his family sat on a transfer bus following their flight. In the video, an unidentified woman can be seen flashing her middle fingers and hurling insults at Taufiq’s family.
“Your family is from India,” she said. “You have no respect. You have no rules. You think you can push everyone — push, push, push.”
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Later in the clip, she pulled out her cellphone and vowed to “record your f***king tandoori a**.” The woman also accused Taufiq of being racist toward her, proclaiming herself an American.
“So are we,” shot back Taufiq, a high-end wedding photographer and founder of the Boston-based band Living Syndication. According to his LinkedIn, he’s based in Dracut.
Taufiq’s video of the encounter has racked up tens of thousands of views on social media.
“Mortified we just went through this,” he wrote in the caption. “This lady was harassing our son on the flight, unbeknownst to us, asking him if he was Indian and making comments. When we landed in LA and got on the transfer bus, she told our son to ‘shut up,’ I told her she doesn’t have a right to speak to my son that way and her husband got in my face trying to tell me to not speak to his wife.”
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He said his family was offered a chance to leave the bus but declined.
“I’m thankful United Airlines got her off the bus ultimately and a few fellow passengers stood up for us,” Taufiq wrote. “Blown away these types of people still exist. As photographers we have seen a lot … but this is one we could have done without.”
In an Instagram comment posted below the video, Taufiq’s wife, Nicole, said the bus was “consumed by a chilling silence” during the woman’s tirade.
“It wasn’t just the act of racism that stung; it was the apathy of the crowd, the passive acceptance that felt like silent approval,” she wrote. “My husband and I felt incredibly alone. The silence from the majority, people who could have chosen to stand for decency, was deafening.”
She thanked a “Good Samaritan” shown in the video coming to the family’s aid.
“You reminded us that even one voice can make a difference,” Nicole Taufiq wrote. “To everyone else: your silence was hurtful, and it reinforced the barriers we fight so hard to break down. It’s a reminder of how crucial it is to speak up, to act, and to stand against hate, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel in the moment.”
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In the clip, Pervez Taufiq said police were “looking to arrest” the woman. However, the Los Angeles Airport Police Division told Boston.com it does not appear Airport Police generated a radio call for the incident, and United handled the matter internally.
Still, the Taufiqs told WBZ they hope to identify the woman and press charges.
“I certainly would love it if someone found her, and that we could press charges against her and then realistically for her to get the very loud message that she’s one of very few and there are a lot more people like us,” Pervez Taufiq told the news outlet.
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