An international footballer traveling on a bus home after church service was verbally attacked by a racist white man in Liverpool, England.
Pavel Vieira, 26 years-old from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, captured the incident on his cell phone. As the clip begins, the racist man, wearing a beige jacket and holding a shopping bag, started shouting racial slurs at Vieira and tried to knock his phone out of his hand.
The unidentified man tells the footballer he doesn’t like him because he’s Black and “you shouldn’t even be here.”
He then tells Vierira “Everyone is thinking it, they are all the same, why doesn’t everyone say something.”
As Vieira continued to record, one passenger came to his defense and yelled, “I’m Scouse, I don’t hate you mate.”
Another man personally walked up to him and shook his hand, while other commuters shamed the racist attacker. “You should be ashamed of what you’re saying, it’s f**king disgusting,” an outrage passenger said.
Vieira shared the video to Liverpool Echo and thanked those who defended him.
He told the news outlet in a recent interview, “I want to share the video mainly because I would like to thank the people who stood up for me, I would like to meet them and hug them. After I got off the bus, more people came up to me and spoke with me and supported me.”
The semi-pro footballer admitted the incident did take a toll on him. “I looked in the mirror and I felt ashamed – it made me wonder if I would be better just going back to my country,” he added. “I want to stay here and keep working and supporting my family, I do feel a bit afraid, but I have to be strong for them.”
Merseyside Police said they are investigating the incident and vowed to take the “strongest possible action.”
