Woman 'assaulted and called race traitor' on Tube for attending anti-Donald Trump rally

Chloe Chaplain6 February 2017
WEST END FINAL

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A London woman says she was assaulted and accused of being a “race traitor” for attending a march against Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban.

Sophia Nicolov, 23, was on her way to demonstrate in Grosvenor Square against the President’s recent travel ban imposed on seven Muslim-majority countries.

She was on the Tube at Oxford Circus on the way to the protest with her 26-year-old sister, Alice, when she was shouted at by a man who had been “ranting about f****** Muslims”.

“We were on the way to the protest and there were about five or six of us girls,” Alice told The Standard.

“My sister was behind me holding a sign with a picture of Donald Trump and Theresa May holding hands which read ‘public enemies number one’.

A man was allegedly filmed in a race row on the Tube

“I became aware of a group of men and one of them was ranting and ranting about “f******* Muslims”.

“He was shouting about how ‘there are no white people left in London anymore’ and kept saying ‘what is this country becoming?’.

“Then he looked around and saw my sister’s sign and just went mental – he lunged for her, kicked her and kicked the sign she was holding.

“He just started going mad and calling her a “liberal leftie piece of s***”.

The 6ft 3ins man tried to knock the sign out of Sophia’s hands and, in the process kicked her, whilst hurling abuse, it is claimed.

Demp: Protesters hold up placards reading 'no to Islamophobia'
PA Wire/PA Images

Sophia continued: “He kept shouting ‘you f****** left wing liberal scum’ over and over again and then he started calling me a ‘race traitor’ – he was shouting it at me.”

The women then began shouting back at the man – whose friends remained silent throughout the altercation.

“We started saying ‘you’re a racist’,” Alice said.

“Then, when we began filming him, he started saying it was nothing to do with race.”

The women described the incident as “very intimidating and frightening”.

“We eventually told him to get off the train and the Tube driver came to see if we were okay.

Protest: Demonstrators gather at the US Embassy in central London
PA Wire/PA Images

“Everyone on the carriage said we had done the right thing but no one helped us at the time.”

Sophie added: “The whole thing was very aggressive and it just happened out of nowhere – he saw the sign and exploded.

“He kicked my hand holding the sign and that was when he started shouting at me. I shouted back and said ‘it’s people like are the reason I am going to the march today’. “

Both Sophia, a student, and Alice, a writer, grew up in Finsbury Park, north London.

They said they have never seen an outburst like this in the capital before.

Alice said: “I have never heard someone accusing someone else of being a ‘race traitor’ before – it is white supremacist type of talk and I have never heard that kind of language being thrown around before.”

Sophia added: “This hatred has come from somewhere and I think it has been normalised by Trump and Brexit.

“The reason we were marching is because we hate racism and we want people to know that London is not a racist city.”

The incident has been reported to British Transport Police.

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Head of Transport Policing, said: "We do not tolerate racist behaviour and are working with the British Transport Police to identify the individual involved in this incident.

"We work to make public transport in London feel safe and welcoming for all and this type of incident is thankfully rare.

"We always support the strongest possible action against the small minority who either verbally or physically attack other customers."

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