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“Shameful Human”: ‘Karen’ Passenger Blames ‘Brain Injury’ For Hurling Racist Remarks At Family
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“Shameful Human”: ‘Karen’ Passenger Blames ‘Brain Injury’ For Hurling Racist Remarks At Family

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A woman caught hurtling racist remarks at an Indian-American family on an airport shuttle has finally broken her silence. 

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, photographer Pervez Taufiq was at the LAX airport when he filmed a United Airlines passenger insulting him while flipping him off. 

This past Tuesday, she told Fox 11 that her brain injury was to blame for her rude behavior.

Highlights
  • A woman blamed a brain injury for her racist behavior at an airport shuttle.
  • The incident involved racist insults directed at an Indian-American family.
  • The altercation went viral on social media, sparking outrage and criticism.

A “Karen” bus passenger said her racist tirade aimed at an Indian-American family was due to a previous brain injury

Image credits: FOX 11 Los Angeles

In an interview with the media outlet, the woman — whose name has not been revealed — claimed Taufiq had thrown the first verbal punch.

“[He] pushed me to the side to get in front of me and the lady made him go back to the end of the line and he’s talking to his wife, ‘Supposedly they are first-class… obviously with no class. Look at the way they’re dressed — they’re white trash,’” she stated. 

Taufiq had allegedly been aggressive the moment they started loading the shuttle.

“He looks over to me and says shut your big effing mouth you white trash b–tch,” the woman continued, which later led to her husband and Taufiq exchanging a couple of words.

Image credits: Pervez Taufiq

Though none of the interaction was caught on video, she told viewers she was not racist, but rather that the series of escalations was due to her brain injury, which can cause her to “get agitated very easily.”

“Most people know me as a very calm, kind person,” she said. 

Her words got around to Taufiq — and he was not happy with her response

Image credits: FOX 11 Los Angeles

According to the photographer, the only true part of the story was the confrontation with her husband. 

While speaking to The Post, he said he’d told her to “shut the f–ck up and never speak to his son again,” but that was only after she’d been rude to his kid. 

“The rest of it is completely and utterly fabricated,” he scoffed, saying the words “white trash” were not a part of his vocabulary.

Additionally, he stated, “Brain injuries can maybe cause aggressions I guess — I’ve never heard of that — but I never heard of a brain injury causing racism. That would be a new one.”

“I’m so disappointed as a human being that she sees everything that happens and how much negativity around what she did and not a lick of her is apologetic.” 

Taufiq told KTLA that they were proud Americans but what bothered him most about the altercation was that no one — save for only a few passengers — stood up for them.

“The takeaway for us is definitely if you see something, say something, try to stop it,” he said. “Do your best because you could be next, and you want everyone to be in your corner right when it happens.”

The incident happened on November 24 and quickly went viral on social media

Image credits: Pervez Taufiq

Taufiq had just landed in Los Angeles from Cancun with his wife and three sons when the woman—wearing a green striped T-shirt—started calling him a prick and throwing up two middle fingers.

“Your family is from India,” she said. “You have no respect, you have no rules, you think you can push everyone — push, push, push… that’s what you think you are. You guys are f–cking crazy.”

She didn’t hesitate to pull out her phone before claiming she would “record [his] f–cking tandoori –ss.” 

“I’m American,” the woman stated, saying Taufiq was “from f–cking India.”

Image credits: Pervez Taufiq

An employee was later seen asking her to leave the vehicle, but she stood her ground until another passenger claimed she was “drunk” and “cussing and screaming” on the bus.

“She started calling racist slurs at this nice family,” they complained. “They didn’t do anything — she doesn’t need to be on this bus.”

She was later removed from the vehicle.

Following the incident, Taufiq shared a message on Facebook, detailing his shock and disappointment.

Image credits: Pervez Taufiq

While he was thankful for those who stood up for them and acknowledged the efficiency of the United Airlines employees, he was “mortified” to find that “these types of people still exist.”

“As photographers we have seen a lot of, but this is one we could have done without.”

He concluded by saying, “Racists shouldn’t feel comfortable to be able to be themselves.”

Netizens said her excuses were “embarrassing” and “shameful”

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What People Think
  • Brain Injury Advocate: Believes brain injuries can alter behavior and public should be more understanding.

  • Social Justice Defender: Condemns the behavior as racist, emphasizes accountability despite personal issues.

  • Skeptic: Questions validity of brain injury claim, views it as an excuse to avoid responsibility.

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Michelle Tian

Michelle Tian

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Hi, there! I'm a newswriter at Bored Panda, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, as well as a philosophy minor. A few of my other hobbies include dancing, reading, cooking, or listening to a true crime podcast. My favourite thing to report on includes groundbreaking news in the field of science — particularly marine biology! I definitely didn't do well very well studying it in school, but being a journalist lets me live out those dreams in a different and exciting way!

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Michelle Tian

Michelle Tian

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Hi, there! I'm a newswriter at Bored Panda, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, as well as a philosophy minor. A few of my other hobbies include dancing, reading, cooking, or listening to a true crime podcast. My favourite thing to report on includes groundbreaking news in the field of science — particularly marine biology! I definitely didn't do well very well studying it in school, but being a journalist lets me live out those dreams in a different and exciting way!

Renan Duarte

Renan Duarte

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This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

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Renan Duarte

Renan Duarte

Author, BoredPanda staff

This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
6 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Huh. My dad had Tourette syndrome, and that can make you say epithets and "bad words" that may include insults, but they're not intentionally said at all and it certainly doesn't imply that the person with TS is racist XD And my dad sustained a brain injury in November of 2000 and he certainly didn't suddenly start spouting off racist insults after he woke up from his coma XD I thus conclude that this woman is just a terrible person! XD

liam newton-harding
Community Member
6 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Brain injury…Ambien…Booze…or, and hear me out…she, and people like her are just dumb, f*****g racist idiots…

SheamusFanFrom1987
Community Member
6 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sorry not sorry, but trash is indeed the right word for that miserable waste of oxygen. If it's not someone of Indian descent, it's gonna be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, what have you. Brain injury... Suuuuuuuurrrreeee... What injury would that be? Blunt Racist Trauma? Sheeeesh!!!

LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
5 days ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am going to start using that term, "Blunt Racist Trauma". I love it XD For all that my adoptive mom is Mexican (not the common "old white b!tch" type of racist like the lady on the plane) - my mom is HORRIBLY racist. I dated a Chinese guy for 23 years and she would STILL use racist slurs around him ("Ch!nk" is the MILDEST term she used.) He used to laugh and say "We prefer to be called Celestials, thank you!" but I know it bothered him. My mom is even racist against other Mexicans and will call them racist slurs. I don't understand. And I had a cousin who was excommunicated from my (Hispanic) family because she married a black man. In some way, I'm very glad I don't have my mother's DNA - I've spent my life working to make sure I'm nothing like her XD Next time she says something racist/bigoted (which will probably be tomorrow) I'm going to ask how her Blunt Racist Trauma injury is healing XD But I don't understand racism - we're ALL human, y'all. Same species. We need to embrace and respect and remember culture and history, but we're THE SAME SPECIES XD

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
6 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Huh. My dad had Tourette syndrome, and that can make you say epithets and "bad words" that may include insults, but they're not intentionally said at all and it certainly doesn't imply that the person with TS is racist XD And my dad sustained a brain injury in November of 2000 and he certainly didn't suddenly start spouting off racist insults after he woke up from his coma XD I thus conclude that this woman is just a terrible person! XD

liam newton-harding
Community Member
6 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Brain injury…Ambien…Booze…or, and hear me out…she, and people like her are just dumb, f*****g racist idiots…

SheamusFanFrom1987
Community Member
6 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sorry not sorry, but trash is indeed the right word for that miserable waste of oxygen. If it's not someone of Indian descent, it's gonna be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, what have you. Brain injury... Suuuuuuuurrrreeee... What injury would that be? Blunt Racist Trauma? Sheeeesh!!!

LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
5 days ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am going to start using that term, "Blunt Racist Trauma". I love it XD For all that my adoptive mom is Mexican (not the common "old white b!tch" type of racist like the lady on the plane) - my mom is HORRIBLY racist. I dated a Chinese guy for 23 years and she would STILL use racist slurs around him ("Ch!nk" is the MILDEST term she used.) He used to laugh and say "We prefer to be called Celestials, thank you!" but I know it bothered him. My mom is even racist against other Mexicans and will call them racist slurs. I don't understand. And I had a cousin who was excommunicated from my (Hispanic) family because she married a black man. In some way, I'm very glad I don't have my mother's DNA - I've spent my life working to make sure I'm nothing like her XD Next time she says something racist/bigoted (which will probably be tomorrow) I'm going to ask how her Blunt Racist Trauma injury is healing XD But I don't understand racism - we're ALL human, y'all. Same species. We need to embrace and respect and remember culture and history, but we're THE SAME SPECIES XD

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