Watch Muslim Subway Riders In NYC Abused, Defended By Fellow Passengers [VIDEO]

Two apparently Muslim subway riders in New York City were subjected to abuse including being asked, “Why are you in this country,” before fellow passengers came to their defense. The exchange was captured on a video that was uploaded to YouTube last week. The woman directing the abuse, who identified herself as Puerto Rican, was asked by a fellow passenger why she was carrying out the harassment.

“Because he looks Indian, Muslim?” she was questioned. “Yes,” was her response.

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As the video began, the female passenger on the E train in Manhattan was seen asking the two off-camera passengers three times, “Why are you here?” After she was asked to explain what she meant, she responded, “Why are you in this country, if you’re not with us?” She is then seen gesturing around the rest of the train.

It quickly became clear the woman was receiving no support from those around her, with one of the abused passengers saying, “Nobody on this train is with you.”

“And maybe they’re not taking my back, I know nobody taking my back,” the woman followed up. “And that’s a shame, but I will take my own back.”

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A clearly exasperated passenger standing beside the abuser then stepped in.

“Would you mind stopping this conversation, we don’t want to listen anymore,” she said.

Soon, another rider, who identified herself as half-Chinese, half-Latin American, interjected.

“Whether you're born from here, Puerto Rico, wherever you are from, I don't like the way you're treating her,” the woman said. “It’s rude, we're here in it together, OK? We're all in this together. Whether we like what's going on in the government or not.

“We got to deal with it. you're a grown woman, suck it up and you defend your brothers and sisters. That’s what you are, if you’re a part of this country, you’re brothers and sisters with everyone.”

Immediately following last November’s election, there was a steep rise in incidents of hate, many targeting Muslims. In New York City, the number of hate crimes rose 24 percent in 2016, the highest in over a decade, with many of those targeting Muslims, according to data collected by researchers at California State University, San Bernardino, which was released last week.