Police are searching for a man who told a passenger to “get back to your own country” during a racist tirade on a train.
Officers from British Transport Police said the man racially abused another man who was travelling with his young daughter, as well as a third man on the train.
“He is reported to have used racially charged swearing and said ‘get back to your own country’, the force said. It is being treated as a hate crime.
The aggressor’s repeated abuse aboard the 1.24pm service from Edinburgh Waverley to Galashiels, on Thursday 11 July, led to “a scuffle” with the victim but no injuries were reported.
It comes just days after Donald Trump used similar language in a string of racist tweets targeting four Democratic congresswomen.
The US president told the women they should “go back” to “the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.
Authorities have now been urged to step up protections for Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.
BTP added in a statement: “The suspect] is described as white, of medium build, with short dark brown hair. He was unshaven and wearing a t-shirt, an over-sized blue hoodie with a zip, and dark trousers and trainers.
“Officers would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the offence. They would especially like to obtain the witness account of the second man who was racially abused.”
Additional reporting by PA
