Random acts of hatred and rage continue to rock Toronto as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, some of them more subtle in nature than others. This one's not subtle at all.
A local woman who requested that her identity be withheld sent us video footage this week of a bizarre encounter she had with a complete stranger outside a beauty supply store at Shoppers World Danforth.
The young woman, who is Mongolian-Canadian, says she was walking along Danforth Avenue with her groceries when another woman she'd never met started screaming at her from the strip mall.
Eventually, the situation escalated to the point where the screaming stranger hit the woman, prompting her to file a police report.
"This lady started screaming 'COVID' at me and telling other people in the environment to stay away from me since I'm a virus," said the woman who sent the video to blogTO. "I have no clue why she did it... she said she works in public healthcare, which I'm not sure is true."
Gobsmacked, she started filming the woman, who in turn whipped her own phone out to film back, as we so often see during these types of emotionally-charged public altercations.
"I am not a COVID, you need to stop doing that okay?" says the woman being harassed in the clip.
"I"m recording you, is that okay?" replies the alleged attacker. "I'm recording your last moments."
An Asian-Canadian woman started filming at a Toronto strip mall last week after a random stranger started screaming "COVID" and calling her "a virus." 📹: submitted to blogTO pic.twitter.com/XjjaRdzRQA
— blogTO (@blogTO) September 3, 2020
The stranger then utters a word which is not quite clear, four times, as she walks past the young woman filming.
"As you can hear, I called her a f*cking b*tch at the end of this video," said the woman who sent us the clip. "She hit me after that."
Toronto Police confirmed reports that "a woman was assaulted by a unknown person" on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 2:45 p.m. near Danforth Ave. and Victoria Park and that "the unknown person then left the area."
"It's not only the slurs, but it's the fact she pushed me towards the road, which is a physical assault," said the young woman of why she reported the stranger. "Luckily, I was not hit by a car."
"I wish I could've recorded when she hit me, but I had to turn down my phone to protect myself," she continued. "I felt completely horrified. I called my dad as soon as I got home and cried my eyeballs off."
Police did not say if the woman who instigated the altercation has been found, but the tipster said she was told they're looking, and that the woman will be charged with assault.
"They asked me if I want her to be put into jail, which I definitely do not want," she said to blogTO. "I told them I hope she will get the mental health help she needs."
"I hope everyone would understand the reason why I'm making public and reporting her," she said. "It's to make sure she will not do this to any other person."
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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