A man from the UK hurled racist epithets and explicit derogatory language at an elderly black woman on a Ryanair flight Friday Oct. 19. Heavy has confirmed that the flight originated from Barcelona, Spain en-route to London Stansted Airport in Essex, England.
The video has been posted to Twitter and a longer version was uploaded to YouTube.
David Lawrence posted the video writing, “This is the footage I recorded whilst on a Ryanair flight on 19 Oct 2018. In the clip you can see and hear the man call the elderly woman an ugly black bastard.”
The man rants and screams vulgarity at the woman for several minutes. He threatens to attack her if she does not move.
One passenger can be heard saying the man should be thrown off the flight as a flight attendant suggests the woman might want to change her seat.
The man carries on calling her a “black dog” and “ugly black bastard” among other racist vulgarities. Passengers are stunned but try to get the man to stop. He continues and demands she move and if she does not, he threatens her.
“I’ll tell you this, if you don’t move to another seat, I’ll push you to another seat.”
The woman appears shaken and says she wants to talk to her daughter who can be heard in the beginning of the video yelling at the man to stop: “She’s disabled! Don’t you dare shout at her. Don’t you dare shout at her.” The daughter is prodded away by the flight attendant. “Who the hell are you to talk to her that way?”
Huffington Post UK reported it had spoken to the passenger’s daughter. She said her mother, 77, identified by HuffPo UK as “Mrs. Gayle,” of London immigrated to the UK from Jamaica in the 1960s. When she speaks to the man, he shouts, “Don’t talk to me in a fucking foreign language you stupid ugly cow.” A passenger behind him tells him to stop. He says he will not and calls the woman “this ugly black bastard.”
The incident began when the woman, who has “arthritis, took some time standing up from her aisle seat to allow him to access his window seat,” it was reported.
The daughter told HuffPo UK it’s nearly a year since her father passed away and she’d taken her mother away for a few days as she was feeling depressed. Her parents, she told a reporter, were married more than a half-century: “She’s been feeling really down and depressed, so I thought the trip would raise her spirits.
Mrs Gayle’s daughter on Ryanair defending her mother against racist attack.
Throughout the three-minute attack, Ryanair flight attendants appear to do little save to get her moved and ask him to calm down.
In the last frames, the woman is not in the seat and the flight attendant can be heard asking if the man is okay. “I’m alright now she’s gone,” he says.
If this is @Ryanair, they need to explain how this man’s disgusting racial abuse of the black lady in the seat next to him ends up with HER being asked to move. It is beyond belief
t.co/OhBfpXHaNG
It’s not clear what, if anything, Ryanair did during the incident that was not recorded, nor what it did after. The airline says it’s “Europe’s favorite” made no mention of the incident on its website or its social media.
In response to a request for comment, Ryanair early Sunday emailed Heavy a one-line statement.
“We have reported this to the police in Essex and as this is now a police matter, we cannot comment further,” said Ryanair Head of Communications Robin Kiely.
On its website, Essex Police encourage people to report hate crimes.
“Essex Police take prejudice-based crime seriously and we want all incidents to be reported. It is important to let us know about hate crime to give us a chance to investigate and prosecute offenders and to ensure that you and the wider community are protected.
Whatever your background, it is important to remember that if you are the victim of hostility or prejudice, you are not to blame. Everyone has the right to live their life free from abuse and violence whoever they are. You don’t have to live with hate crime and we are here to help.
We cannot deal with the problem unless it is reported to us so we would encourage you to contact us whether you are experiencing hate crime or you know someone who is. Report it to sort it!”
A follow-up question from Heavy about the airlines’ policy on threatening, menacing, aggressive or violent passengers was not answered; the reply email was returned as not deliverable to Kiely.
Racist attack on 77-year-old black woman on Ryanair flight
@Ryanair Was it reported to Essex Police at the time OR just because of the bad press you are now getting. Passengers having to settle arguments, the steward was NOT in control at all. Disgraceful behaviour.
Meanwhile, many on social media are calling for an apology from the airline for what is alleged to be its failure to protect the woman and rather, appears to be accommodating the man.
By late Saturday, a #BoycottRyanair social media campaign had begun with MP David Lammy encouraging the action.
“Ok boycott @Ryanair if they think it’s ok for a racist man to abuse an elderly black woman and remain on the plane. It’s 63 years since Rosa Parks said ‘No’ to sitting on the back of the Bus and we ain’t going back.”
Ok boycott @Ryanair if they think it’s ok for a racist man to abuse an elderly black woman and remain on the plane. It’s 63 years since Rosa Parks said “No “ to sitting on the back of the Bus and we ain’t going back.
Hundreds tweeted the hashtag as many called for the man to be charged with a hate crime. A number described the airline as complicit.
@Hawkwind12345 @_SJPeace_ @Ryanair @Ryanair
still haven’t answered, eh?
Have to craft that perfect nonculpable response?
Let me break it down for you, Michael O’Leary:
#BoycottRyanAir
Still others wonder why more passengers didn’t shout the man down. A passenger can be heard asking the man to please stop and a couple of others the same. But there was no widespread outrage.
“Shame on those who looked away and did nothing,” one person on Twitter said. Her tweet was liked by scores of people.
As of Sunday, the man was as of yet not formally identified by police; Heavy is awaiting a confirmation on his identity.
Sussex Police released a statement saying that Spanish police will be included; the incident occurred while in the Barcelona Airport.
“We take prejudice-based crime seriously. We want all incidents to be reported. We are working closely with Ryanair and Spanish authorities on investigation.”
This is a developing story.