A viral video shows the moment a man punches a woman on the subway after she told him to take a "chill pill."
The video was first uploaded to TikTok but has since been reshared to Twitter, where it has received more than two million views. The New York Post reported that the incident occurred on a D train, though neither the date nor time of the incident was confirmed.
"Say it to my face now," the man shouts at the beginning of the video. "Tell me to take a chill pill. Say the word 'chill pill.'"
The woman, obviously upset, looks directly at the man and says "chill pill." Immediately after she says this, he launches his fist into the side of her face.
The train's passengers gasp, and some start to shout at the man. Behind the camera, the woman recording the video can be heard saying, "you wildin'," before the man continues to yell at the woman he just hit.
"Mind ya business," he says multiple times before taunting her, telling her to "say it again." The woman doesn't bite and instead continues to stare him down.
Throughout the remainder of the video, the man yells at the train's passengers.
According to the video's text overlay, the man was "tight off life when he came in the cart telling [people] to [get the f*** out] him & his kids' way."
"All she said was he needs a chill pill & his kids repeated it to him and it was just put up from there," the text overlay at the beginning of the video also said.
There is no footage showing the lead-up to the hit.
On her Instagram page, the video's original poster said: "I wanted to help ole girl soo bad but the way it was looking the whole train would [have] watched me get my a** beat tf [the f***] up by him and probably his kids."
The Post previously said that, within the first five months of 2021, 233 assaults were reported in New York City's subway system.
"Adjusted for ridership, there were 2.87 crimes per million riders on the subways in May, a 37 percent increase compared to April — and the highest rate since October, when NYPD recorded 149 felonies on the subways and 3.1 crimes per million riders," the paper added.
Last month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that it had finished installing security cameras in each one of the city's subway stations in an effort to reduce crime.
"If you are a criminal who preys on those who use our system, you will have your image captured and be put on the express track to justice. The image will be delivered to the police, and the police will use it to find you," the MTA said in a statement obtained by Newsweek.
Twitter commenters were disappointed, not only at the man for hitting the woman but primarily with the train's passengers, who didn't intervene.
"She stayed standing. Took his little punch and still went eye to eye. Tougher than him," said Twitter user @cjw. "The whole train car should be ashamed of themselves."
"I'm surprised half the people didn't subdue him right there simply out of protection for the kids let alone himself and everyone else," added a commenter under the username The Natural Eye
"The way people will never help you," someone else exclaimed.
According to The Post, the NYPD was made aware of the situation and is "investigating the assault."
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About the writer
Sara Santora is a Newsweek reporter based in Florida. Her focus is reporting on viral social media posts and trends. ... Read more
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