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Wednesday • August 24, 2016
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photo by C ervante p ope /t he p ortland o bserver
Brothers Pablo, Romeo and Emilio Herrera documented racial harassment on a MAX train by one rider against a young mom and her family and then took action to
prevent further violence.
to
Standing Up Violence
Three brothers catch
racism in action
C ervante p ope
t he p ortland o bserver
A local band of brothers who document-
ed racial harassment on a MAX train by one
rider against a young mom and her family
and then took action to prevent further vi-
olence, showcases how heroism, fear and
racism can collide in powerful ways.
Emilio, Romeo and Pablo Herrera were
Portland bound from the Beaverton Skate-
by
park riding the Blue Line on Aug. 13 when
commotion from the other side of the MAX
car caught their attention. What happened
next, as caught on 21-year-old Emilio’s
cellphone video, was a racially-based at-
tack in progress.
“We had seen was this large man just
yelling at a woman and we weren’t sure
what was going on,” says Romeo, 18.
“We just saw him hovering over her and
screaming.”
The unidentified man was supposedly
upset that the woman, Nitasha Sweaney,
didn’t give him the 75 cents he asked of
her and everyone else in the MAX car.
Sweaney, a 27-year-old new mother,
told the Oregonian the man became en-
raged, stood in front of her, her daughter
and her godmother and flipped them off,
refusing to sit down when asked.
“He did not listen and came about a foot
away from us and was yelling racial slurs
and cussing in our face,” says Sweaney.
“At this point the only thing I could do was
hold my daughter tightly and cover her
ears.”
It was at this moment that the Herrera
brothers intervened with camera in hand,
attempting to end the incident.
“When he saw Emilio recording he left
the women alone and directed his attention
on us and started yelling at us,” Romeo
says.
The assailant then pushed his way
through the young men and swung at the
camera, directing his use of the n-word
now towards them. Romeo says he put his
hand up for protection and didn’t use any
physical force, but the assailant ignored
him and began antagonizing at Emilio.
C ontinued on p age 5