SEATTLE — A widely-shared post on social media is raising questions about behavior on King County Metro buses.
The post shows a man holding a cell phone and accuses him of live streaming while harassing passengers on a King County bus.
The poster calls him a “menace to our community,” and asks people to contact authorities if they see him. The post has been shared thousands of times.
Video posted on YouTube appears to show the same man playing a string of racial epithets and expletives through his cell phone as riders stare. One passenger calls the police, and another tells him to stop.
“This happens every time dude, I’m not able to control my phone, I've got a virus,” the man tells passengers as donations pop up on screen.
“There’s no question some of the things heard on that video could be considered hateful,” said Seattle attorney Sheryl Willert. “But at the end of the day, I have questions about whether his speech is unconstitutional or illegal.”
She said one factor that could limit his First Amendment rights is if the behavior could incite imminent violence, or endanger other riders – similar to yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.
“When I looked at the video, one of the things it said is, ‘I can’t control what’s coming out of my phone, it’s been hacked,’” Willert said. “Whether that’s true or not, he disclaimed the intent to do anything wrong.”
Willert said though explicit, it’s unclear if the speech could be limited in a public space like a bus.
The King County Sheriff’s Office said it’s looking into the situation. A spokesperson said with any situation on public transit, they asked witnesses and victims to come forward and file a report. Also – if you call 911, they can send a deputy.
Metro posted tips for stopping sexual harassment on transit last year – which includes general guidelines.
Metro is calling on riders to report misconduct by:
• Telling their Metro bus driver at the time of the incident,
• Calling the King County Sheriff’s Office/Metro Transit Police 206-296-3311
• Calling 911
Washington’s statute for malicious harassment – often called a hate crime – notes that “Words alone do not constitute malicious harassment unless the context or circumstances surrounding the words indicate the words are a threat.”
Washington does ban “unlawful transit conduct” – which includes a clause for someone who “Unreasonably disturbs others by engaging in loud, raucous, unruly, harmful, or harassing behavior.”
“It makes me uncomfortable,” Willert said of the video. “It’s not how it should go. But unfortunately, it’s how it does go sometimes.”
She applauded the other passengers for remaining calm.
“It’s one of those things about our society that makes it very interesting,” she said. “People of all ilks, all ages, all religions, all races are on the bus. And tolerance is probably the most important thing we have.”