Two men have been arrested after a mob of males attacked a woman and then threw her off a transit bus after she asked them to stop using curse words.
A group of young men and possibly juveniles physically snatched Kyla Thurston out of her seat, beat and kicked her, and then ejected her from the metro bus in Washington, D.C. because she reprimanded them for shouting obscenities during the ride.
Thurston was lauded for her bravery in speaking with Fox 5 on camera after the video of the incident went viral. She told the reporter that she gave up her seat to a woman and her young daughter, and then the men came aboard and continued their loud conversation that included many profanities.
When Thurston admonished the men, the attack began.
“I wouldn’t want, you know, no one else to have to go through this – it’s emotional just thinking about it,” Thurston told the station.
“At that point, the kids became unruly. They started being disrespectful, like saying things to me,” Thurston said. “Then next thing you know, there were objects being throw at me, and I was just like, ‘Thank You, Lord,’ because throughout the whole incident the only thing I could recall was the kids hitting me and kicking me – and I had no defense.”
Thurston said she was screaming at the top of her lungs for the bus driver to stop the bus so that she could get off, but the driver reportedly refused until the bus arrived at the next stop. That’s when the group of men allegedly grabbed her by her throat, tore her jacket, and forcefully ejected her from the bus.
Emoni Hubbard, 27, and Terry Barnes, 35, were among the eight people – including juveniles – believed to have taken part in the attack, police said. They were identified with help from video from the bus and from a witness on the bus.
Officials at the metro headquarters said he was mortified by Thurston’s harrowing experience.
“I personally called the victim to apologize for what happened,” Metro GM and CEO Randy Clarke said in a statement obtained by the news station. “This type of behavior cannot be tolerated on Metro or anywhere.”
Clarke also indicated that the Metrobus driver will be disciplined for the failure to alert Metro police nor stopping while the woman was being beaten and kicked.
Listen to the two reports below.
