Transit police are investigating a verbal confrontation on the SkyTrain that was caught on video.
The video shows a woman berating an elderly couple originally from the Philippines, who were speaking to each other in Tagalog.
Paula Correa, who caught part of the incident on video, said she was riding on the Millennium Line at around noon on Monday when she saw a woman interrupt the couple’s conversation and tell them to be quiet.
Eventually, the woman told them to, “Go back to the f—ing Philippines.”
She also told them to “learn how to speak English.”
English is one of the two official languages of the Philippines.
Correa said other passengers stepped in to defend the couple.
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She said one passenger confronted the woman and another man “also started defending the couple and he was defending them quite aggressively so she started attacking him as well.”
He said the woman cursed at the couple before leaving the train and that she could be heard yelling on the platform once the train’s doors had shut.
Correa said the couple was shaken up by the incident but she tried to comfort them.
She also said she is glad that other passengers stepped in to intervene.
“I’m so glad that there were so many people who stood up against this kind of hate,” she said.
Transit police said the woman is a 75-year-old New Westminster resident who is known to them.
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