Transit police in Vancouver are investigating a video showing a man pushing an unmasked woman off a bus after she spits at him.
The video, which has yet to be verified by authorities, shows the woman standing on the bus as someone off-camera is heard saying the word “disgusting”. She turns her head and appears to spit on a man, who is wearing a face mask.
He then shoves her away, and she staggers towards the side door, which he proceeds to push her out of and onto the pavement outside. A woman can be heard asking: “Oh my god, what’s wrong with you?” as the man wipes saliva off his forehead and replies: “She spit on me.”
The footage was first posted on TikTok and quickly went viral there, as well as on other social media platforms.
TransLink, which runs the city’s public transport services, replied to a tweet sharing the video: “The safety of our customers is our #1 priority. Thank you to everyone for their concern. Transit Police are currently investigating this matter.”
Transit police told CTV News that they only learned of the incident after people shared the video widely.
Sergeant Clint Hampton told the broadcaster that their external investigation unit was attempting to locate the person who posted the video to try and gather more information, but the original video and account it was posted on appear to have been deleted.
“This makes the investigation difficult, we are working off a video with very limited information,” he said.
“We know when the video was posted but we don’t know when it was taken. Was this taken yesterday or was it taken three months ago?”
He added that anyone who witnessed or was involved in the event should contact the transit police.
The wearing of a face mask is mandatory on public transport in the Canadian city, unless the person has an underlying medical condition that exempts them from wearing a mask.
Sgt Hampton said people were encouraged to socially distance themselves from anyone who did not wear a mask on public transport.
The woman, if identified, could be charged with assault for spitting at the man. Sgt Hampton called her actions “disgusting”.
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