homophobe who starts fight at Dallas airport gets owned by crowd, arrested [TW: see below]

[sio]

An angry man was caught on video last week attacking a fellow passenger at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, apparently because he thought the man was gay. But then, a group of bystanders, including a man in a cowboy hat, quickly took action to bring the man down.

Comments

[kate_mct]

Since when does wearing a pink shirt make you gay, if you're male? That guy has serious problems.

[sio]

well, pink is a ~*GIRL'S COLOR*~, ya know.

[piscesvstaurus]

I work retail in NYC, and you wouldn't believe how many women refuse pink or purple dress shirts for their husbands/boyfriends because they are "girly."

[bex]

*squint* So... it looked like this verbal altercation had already started and the aggressor was starting to pull off his jacket (in preparation for a fight), and TSA agents are walking around/looking on and... not intervening? Why did this get to the point that passengers tackled the aggressor? There's at least one women who appears to be a TSA agent who walks by when the homophobe is talking to Cowboy Hat Guy but just keeps moving. The ticketing/checking agents are standing right there when the homophone first makes a grab for the guy's phone. Why did this go on for so long??

[qara_isuke]

I dunno how much authority TSA agents have, to be honest. For example, our security officers are not allowed to touch or detain anyone. They can basically observe or at most talk to someone, but are expected to basically be a deterring presence and observe/report to police.

[bnmc2005]

t looked like this verbal altercation had already started and the aggressor was starting to pull off his jacket (in preparation for a fight), and TSA agents are walking around/looking on and... not intervening? Why did this get to the point that passengers tackled the aggressor?

Two words: White. Privilege.

I'm also going to assign this perspective to how compassionately the onlooker viewed the man as "troubled" and on a "substance" and not just "a thug".

[moonbladem]

"Let me tell you the reason why I did it: Because this is America, that's why," he tells the two black officers, adding something that sounds like "the same reason you get to live and breathe and walk black."

That there are reasons for the "racism" and "fuck this guy" tags. Dude definitely has problems. If there's a Lego pit nearby I'd love to shove him into it.

[sio]

i'll go ahead and add those. i actually debated the fuck this guy tag while prepping it to post.

[rhysande]

I don't know why more noise hasn't been made about his racist remarks. This guy's a loser on multiple fronts.

[rhysande]

WTH at the guy holding the camera and his brother near the end of the video who are all sympathy for the "troubled man" who is drunk and needs help as though the drunken man was the victim instead of the perpetrator of a hate crime in which another person was injured. Let's worry about and pray for him.

Also, alcohol doesn't change the way people feel, it lowers their filters and inhibitions. He wasn't a bigot because he was drunk, he was a drunken bigot.

[shortsweetcynic]

Also, alcohol doesn't change the way people feel, it lowers their filters and inhibitions. He wasn't a bigot because he was drunk, he was a drunken bigot.

YES.

[moonshaz]

That's so true. Being under the influence doesn't put thoughts in someone's head that weren't already there; it just makes it more likely that they'll express those thoughts while behaving in a highly inappropriate manner.

[qara_isuke]

It isn't that they don't have sympathy for the victim, or have huge amounts of sympathy for the attacker. I know when I come across similar awfulness from people, I try not to let myself hate them. I mean, clearly someone that would do something like that is troubled. Normally, people don't go around hitting each other over stupid, petty stuff. Someone that goes around throwing punches or bullying probably has a lot of ugliness in their life.

And I get hoping someone only did something like that because they're drunk.

[spyral_out]

Props to the dude in the magenta shirt who had his foot broken when he took the asshole down with him, and then held him there until the cops had him.