Long Beach police are investigating viral video of a white man dragging an unconscious Black man off a Metro train in an act critics say shows a complete lack of humanity.
On Friday, authorities said they had identified the man in question but declined to reveal his name, CBS Los Angeles reported. Police said they’ve since spoken with the unnamed man and are still working to figure out exactly what happened.
Video from the incident, captured by a bystander named Billion, shows the suit–clad man dragging a man — unconscious with his pants falling down — onto the Metro train platform. The unnamed man then pulls the Black man’s pants up before returning to the train to gather the unconscious man’s belongings. He calmly takes a seat back on the train after tossing a sweatshirt and two bags next to the limp man he’d just dragged onto the platform.
The man had suffered some sort of medical emergency believed to be a seizure while riding the train, Billion told the station. The white man was eager to get home, however, and chose to take matters into his own hands. Billion said he and other passengers repeatedly shouted at the man to stop, demanding he leaves the unconscious man alone.
“We all started telling him, put him down, get your hands off him,” he recalled. “You have no right to be touching him … And he wasn’t just some bum he could dispose of.”
During the ordeal, one passenger called for help while another went to the conductor to stop the train. Long Beach police said an officer responded to help with a 911 call that came from the Metro Blue Line Willow Station.
According to CBS Los Angeles, the Black man has since been hospitalized and is in guarded condition.
As for the man in the suit, police said he’s back at his Long Beach retirement complex. Officers have remained tight-lipped about the man but said he’s a 65-year-old military veteran.
Recalling the incident, Billion said he couldn’t remember the man ever asking him to stop filming. He said what struck him the most was the man’s total lack of compassion toward his fellow passenger. At one point in the video, the man is heard griping that “there are a lot of people on this train that want to get home” and says he thought the unconscious man “might be drunk.”
“I just couldn’t believe someone could do something like that,” Billion said.
Officers said they plan to interview more witnesses in the coming days, adding they didn’t want to press charges based solely on bystander video.
Watch more in the video below. *Warning: Video contains harsh language and partial nudity*
