Video shows a blonde, middle-aged man sporting a red shirt confronting a Muslim family Monday afternoon, yelling and shoving some of them as other members attempt to de-escalate the situation. It remains unclear what triggered the man to verbally assault the family.
"You don't ask me a f**king question in my province. I f**king grew up," the man shouts at the family. "You don't ask me a question. You're in my province, you f**king piece of s**t. Get the f**k out of here."
As the man continues his tirade, a woman can be heard saying that their aggressor is drunk and to ignore him as another woman is on the phone with police.
For the remainder of the video, the man continues to yell at the family, stressing that he's not taking any questions, especially if he's not being respected. "You don't ask me a question in my f**king province. If you want respect, you f**king give it to me. You don't ever ask me a question in my province," he said.
By the time that a security officer arrives on the scene, video shows the man gesturing toward one of the family members, telling him, "I'll f**king kill you." He then claims to the officer that the incident was initiated by the family.
The footage, which was filmed by one of the members of the family, shows the officer blocking the man away from the group, as he continues to shout at the family.
The last words heard from the man before the recording cuts off are: "Welcome to Ontario, a**hole."
Another recording of the incident, filmed by bystander Hasan Ahmed, offers a second perspective on what took place at the Toronto waterfront. Ahmed told Vice News that the incident started when the family was walking toward the ferry terminal to purchase their tickets. He decided to film the incident in case police needed evidence.
Ahmed was waiting for the ferry with his family when things got heated.
"[My family] never had this kind of experience before," he told the outlet. "I was sad the whole evening. We were travelling to the [Toronto] Island and I was not really enjoying the tour, I was really sad. My family was sad, too. My kids kept asking me, ‘Dad, why is this man behaving like this?' I couldn't tell them, they are Muslim, and that's why he's harassing them, because then my children would feel down."
"They would feel scared, and I don't want them to have the same feeling that I have. They were born here and raised here and speak like Canadians, not like myself," Ahmed, who was visiting Toronto from Saskatoon, added.
He later stressed that the behavior the man exhibited in the recording does not mirror true Canadian values.
Toronto police told CBC News that they have spoken with the unidentified aggressor, but have not yet filed any charges against him. An investigation into the matter is still ongoing.
