AC Transit Bus Fight in the Oakland, California Area is Caught on YouTube

The AC Transit bus fight and the aftermath that took place in the Oakland, California area Tuesday afternoon can be seen at the San Francisco Chronicle here or via YouTube. This bus fight took place on a Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District bus and involved a young man and a senior citizen aged 67. This AC Transit bus fight shows what can happen when you mess with a senior citizen. You may get more than you are bargaining for. It's not wise to go looking for a fight because people are unpredictable, no matter what their age happens to be, and you may be recorded.

The AC Transit Bus Fight in the Oakland, California Area Shows the Value of Citizen Cameras

As the video shows, the young man and the older man were racially trash-talking each other, but the older man left the scene and went to the front of the bus. But the trash-talking continued, and the younger man decided to confront the older man one too many times because age won out over youth, and shows that our elders may have a few surprises in store for the younger set. How many times do we hear about older folks being victimized by the young, but this 67 year old man really bucked that trend, didn't he? The young man was left bleeding.

I've heard people say that they don't like using public transportation for a number of reasons, including the time it takes to commute and because they fear for their safety such as being caught in the middle of something like a bus fight. But many people have no other option, and in the big cities especially, it can be risky at times because there are more personalities one has to contend with, including violent ones.

I use the bus service in my hometown often, and I've never witnessed that kind of issue as what was seen with the AC Transit bus fight, though I've heard yelling and screaming. But my city of Cheyenne, Wyoming did install cameras in all the buses though. But the ironic thing is that when the public is carrying video cameras, the news generally gets out a heck of a lot faster for the public than when city hall gets around to releasing it, if there was transit video from the actual bus fight in the Oakland, California area. Watching the citizen video, I can't tell if the bus was video-equipped.

What's going to happen to both combatants? Will anyone get charged in this incident? From the video, it appears the 67 year old had the right to defend himself when the younger man came back at him.

Sources for this article about the AC Transit bus fight in the Oakland, California area:

"Zennie62": AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, Oakland, on YouTube video:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail??blogid=95&entry_id=57379#ixzz0fq6B21JU, February 17, 2010, The San Francisco Chronicle (blog)