Zimbabwean train guard racially abused in Australia: Video goes viral with over 3 million views
By Staff Reporter
AUSTRALIA – A Zimbabwean man working as a train guard in Australia was racially abused by a 17 year old boy who took exception at being asked to remove his feet off a seat in a train at Indooroopilly station in Brisbane’s west just before midnight on 2 October.
Abdel-Kader Russell-Boumzar was filmed appearing to racially abuse Josphat Mkhwananzi and berating him to “learn English” in an incident that drew condemnation from political leaders including the prime minister, Tony Abbott.
Police allege the 17-year-old uploaded footage taken by his friend to Facebook on Friday, unwittingly triggering a social media backlash that led to the arrest of both youths two days later.
Appearing at Brisbane magistrates court on Monday, the apprentice mechanic was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, creating a nuisance on a railway, threatening violence, common assault and using a carriage service to menace or harass.
Police allege the teenager “constantly verbally abused” the guard, calling him “a toothless black dog” and “to learn to speak English [and] to get citizenship to OUR country”. The teen is also accused of threatening to do the guard physical harm and twice spitting in his face.
In the viral video, Russell-Boumzar allegedly refers to the train guard as ‘n*****’ and a ‘black c***’ repeatedly before he continues to explode into a racist rant during the five-minute video.
‘Do you want to come to Australia to learn some proper English?’ the teenager said in the video.
‘That is the issue c*** – learn some f*****g English ’cause this is Australia c*** because I can’t understand you.’
‘No, look, my n****r brother – I got my feet off the f*****g seat.’
‘Don’t touch me – I don’t want to speak to you – I don’t understand you,’ the 17-year-old said.
‘Bro, if you want to be a security guard, learn some English first.’
An attendant is heard telling the young man to ‘get off’ at the next stop.
Another security guard, wearing a blue top, is seen walking towards the teenager as he continues to drunkenly slur his words to another train worker.
‘I’m trying to get to the next station – l’ll sit on this f*****g train for hours if I have to,’ the teenager said.
‘I’ll hold all you f*****s up. I really don’t care. Especially this black c***.
‘Do you even have an Australian citizenship, you f*****g n****r?’
Russell-Boumzar was charged with one count of assault, two of assault occasioning bodily harm, one of making threats, two of creating a disturbance, and using a carriage service to menace.
The shocking incident has also lead to an out pouring of support from the community for ‘Joe’ who is from Zimbabwe.
He has been commended for ‘holding his own in a professional and peaceful manner’ as a teenager hurled the abuse at him on a Brisbane train.
‘Joes’ employers, Securecorp, who are contracted by Queensland Rail, say they are extremely proud of ‘Joe’ in a ‘de-escalating situation’.
‘Securecorp would like to highlight and commend in particular, our security customer service officer who was personally subjected to this abuse on his ‘professional conduct and adhering to correct protocol whilst managing the situation in regards to the safety of all involved,’ said Securecorp’s Craig Harwood.