A woman is speaking out after a now-viral cell phone video captured a group of teens viciously assaulting and throwing her off of a Washington D.C. bus.
In an exclusive interview with news outlet FOX 5, the victim stated the attack was brought forth after reportedly asking the group of teens sitting nearby her to stop using foul language.
The victim has been identified by the New York Post as 42-year-old Kyla Thurston.
The request was made suddenly after giving up her seat on the bus to a young woman who came onboard with young children.
“I wouldn’t want, you know, no one else to have to go through this. It’s emotional just thinking about it,” Thurston told FOX 5.
Thurston says she asked the driver operating the bus to stop numerous times.
But despite her efforts and vocal requests, the bus driver continued driving.
“The bus driver
made no attempt to stop the bus. He didn’t alert local authorities or anything to my defense,” Thurston said during her interview. “Even after I’m yelling at the top of my lungs, ‘Stop the bus, let me off the bus,’ the bus driver never stopped.”Thurston says the driver would eventually stop at another location along the bus route.
That’s when she told FOX 5 that her attackers immediately kicked and pushed her off of the bus
.“At that point, the kids became unruly. They started being disrespectful, like saying things to me,” Thurston told FOX 5. “Then next thing you know, there were objects being thrown at me, and I was just like, ‘Thank You, Lord,’ because throughout the whole incident the only thing I could recall was the kids hitting me and kicking me – and I had no defense.”
Thurston stated during her interview that she hopes
her traumatic experience, which left her bruised with injuries and emotionally shaken up, will influence officials to find ways to prevent this from happening to another bystander simply riding on public transportation.“I’m going to continue riding Metro because like I said, I don’t fear nobody but God,” she added.
In a statement, a Metro spokesperson called the incident “disturbing” and “unacceptable.”
The Metro Transit Police Department is currently investigating the matter.