A man in Brooklyn was thrown off a train after allegedly punching a woman in the face after she accused him of manspreading.
Sam Saia was riding the sunflower yellow-coded N train through the south Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhust around 7:45 a.m. on Thursday, November 16.
At one point, the man next to her allegedly spread his legs far apart and crowded her into the side of the train car’s seating area.
Saia then says she spoke up and asked the man to give her a little room.
Instead of complying or even simply disagreeing, the manspreader began screaming at her. According to Saia, he said:
Bitch, you ain’t nothing! I’ve raped white bitches like you fucking cunt!
After that, the man apparently punched Saia in the mouth and banged her head against the train car.
Most of the train’s passengers did what New Yorkers typically do when presented with violence against women–nothing at all.
One passenger, however, got out of his seat and accosted the assailant.
Twenty-nine-year-old Victor Conde leaped out of his seat and ran to Saia’s aid. He grabbed the attacker by the wrist and told him to get off the train. And then, at the next stop, he did exactly that. In an interview with New York Daily News he said:
I was mad that he hit her and no one else on the train did anything. I got in his face and confronted him. I said ‘What are you doing?’ I told him I was an off-duty officer to defuse the situation and he changed his tune. I just think he was a sick individual.
After allegedly being given the run-around by NYPD desk clerks, Saia exhaustedly posted her story on social media.
Manspreading is a popular term often used in New York City to denote someone who is sitting on a subway seat with their legs spread wide apart–to the detriment of other passengers who might need or want a seat.
Despite the gendered nature of the term, both men and women can frequently be seen “manspreading” on New York City trains and subways.
[image via screengrab; video courtesy
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