Question about Michael Brown leads to beating on St. Louis train

Mar 28, 2015

A man who sat down next to another man on a St. Louis train began to assault the second man when he declined to give his opinion on the Michael Brown case.

The first man, who was African-American, asked to use the second man’s cell phone. The victim, who was white, declined to give the man his cell phone, but the first man sat beside him anyway.

“Then he asked me my opinion on the Michael Brown thing,” the victim told KMOV, “and I responded I was too tired to think about it right now.”

“The next thing I know, he sucker punches me right in the middle of my face,” the victim said.

Two other men, also African-American, joined in the beating as they rained punches on the victim, who held his arms up to cover his face and head.

No one alerted police until a security guard saw the train pull up and glimpsed part of the assault. In the video captured of the assault, bystanders can be heard laughing.

Watch raw video of the incident below [Warning graphic language and violence]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L32MwMAjV2M

“I think it was disgusting that people were sort of laughing and smiling about it,” the victim said. “And no one offered to help. No one seemed to call 911.”

The assault has been condemned by the community at large, with St. Louis alderman Antonio French, a vocal community leader in the aftermath of Ferguson, tweeting, “Mike Brown question sparks MetroLink beating caught on video. This is disgusting. We have a major problem, STL.”