The video shows how the Mass family. being racially abused at the airport

The video shows how the Mass family. being racially abused at the airport

Local News

The unidentified woman was caught on video showing her middle finger and hurling insults at photographer Pervez Taufiq and his family.

The video shows how the Mass family. being racially abused at the airport

Travelers sit in the international terminal near planes parked outside their gates at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in August. Mario Tama/Getty

A Massachusetts family says they were the victims of a fellow passenger’s racist tirade after flying to 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, which was largely recorded as he and his family sat on a transfer bus after their flight. In the video, an unknown woman can be seen showing her middle fingers and hurling insults at Taufiq’s family.

“Her family is from India,” she said. “You have no respect. You have no rules. You think you can push anyone – push, push, push.”

Later in the clip, she pulled out her phone and vowed to “record your damn tandoori a**.” The woman also accused Taufiq of being racist towards her and described herself as American.

“So are we,” shot back Taufiq, a top wedding photographer and founder of Boston-based band Living Syndication. According to his LinkedIn, he is based in Dracut.

Taufiq’s video of the encounter has garnered tens of thousands of views on social media.

“Ashamed we just went through this,” he wrote in the caption. “This lady harassed our son on the flight without us knowing, 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 had no right to talk to my son like that and her husband got in my face and tried to tell me not to talk to his wife.”

He said his family was offered to leave the bus but declined.

“I am grateful that United Airlines ultimately got her off the bus and a few fellow passengers stood up for us,” Taufiq wrote. “It blows my mind that these kinds of people still exist. As photographers, we saw a lot… but we could have done without this.”

In an Instagram comment posted under the video, Taufiq’s wife Nicole said there was “a shocking silence” on the bus during the woman’s tirade.

“It wasn’t just the act of racism that hurt; 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 of the majority, of the people who could have stood up for decency, was deafening.”

She thanked a “good Samaritan” shown in the video who came to the family’s aid.

“You reminded us that even a single vote can make a difference,” wrote Nicole Taufiq. “To everyone else: Your silence has been hurtful and has reinforced the barriers we are fighting so hard to dismantle. It is a reminder of the importance of speaking out, taking action and standing up to hate, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel in the moment.”

In the clip, Pervez Taufiq said police were “trying to arrest the woman.” The Los Angeles Airport Police Division did not respond to a request for comment and it was not immediately clear whether the woman was taken into custody.

The Taufiqs told WBZ they hope to identify the woman and press charges.

“I would definitely love for someone to find her and for us to be able to press charges against her and then realistically send a strong message to her that she is one of very few and that there are many more people like us,” said Pervez Taufiq the news agency.

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Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work covers public transportation, crime, health and everything in between.

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