John Nasir Khan, a Copenhagen bus driver who was assaulted at work in an attack that gained international attention, has spoken publicly about what happened.
Khan was assaulted by a 38-year-old passenger on a city bus in Copenhagen on Sunday morning after asking him to be quiet, Jyllands-Posten and other media reported earlier this week.
The man subsequently became violent and punched Khan in the face, breaking his nose.
The incident happened near Copenhagen Central Station at 6:50am on a 5C bus headed in the direction of Amager and Copenhagen Airport.
The bus was subsequently stopped and the 38-year-old assailant was detained after police arrived at the scene. He will be charged with assaulting a person in public service but was not remanded in custody, Jyllands-Posten reported.
Canadian journalist André Picard of The Globe and Mail, who was on board the bus at the time, later tweeted his observations about the incident, considering in particular the diverse cultures of the passengers and people that helped Khan after the incident and the subject of mental health.
Picard initially wrote that Khan had been stabbed, but later corrected this, noting that he was only punched. The tweets caused the incident to gain attention far from the Danish capital.
Report continues below
Please indulge me for a rare (but brief) thread of personal comments.
— André Picard (@picardonhealth) July 22, 2018
I was on a city bus in Copenhagen early this morning. A young man clearly suffering from mental illness was screaming angrily. Not an unusual occurrence on urban transport. Passengers ignored him. 1/
Suddenly the man rushed to the front of the bus and began viciously punching and stabbing the driver. A passenger intervened - he disarmed and subdued the man. (Turns out he used to be a police officer in Syria.) Two women in hijabs came to the bus driver's aid. /2
— André Picard (@picardonhealth) July 22, 2018
One was a nurse from Somalia. The other was a nurse from Iraq. (The bus route services a major hospital.) Police arrested the man. The bus driver, despite his injuries, asked police if they could ensure the man got help for his "mental sickness." 3/
— André Picard (@picardonhealth) July 22, 2018
Denmark, like many Western countries, is having a fierce public debate about the place of immigrants and whether they can adapt to Western culture and values. This incident I witnessed on the city bus was frightening but, in many ways heartening. 5/
— André Picard (@picardonhealth) July 22, 2018
It was a reminder that some values - like caring for your fellow citizens in a time of crisis- are universal. It was a reminder that immigrants and refugees bring incredible skills with them. It is not newcomers we need to fear, but the assumptions we make about them.
— André Picard (@picardonhealth) July 22, 2018
Khan, 54, has since spoken about the incident in an interview with trade union magazine 3F.
“He was a foreigner and spoke English to me. He shouted, waving his arms, ‘You are taking my country. I want to kill you all.’ He was a trouble maker, and the passengers were scared and quiet,” Khan told 3F.
The bus driver said he looked in his mirror to check whether the aggressive man had attacked any of the other passengers, before addressing him over the bus’ loudspeaker system, saying, “Sit still, or I will call the police”.
At that point, the bus had slowed on an approach to a traffic light and the man moved down the aisle towards him, Khan recounted.
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