Incident on the No. 29

I was on my way back from a dance class yesterday. I was on the 29 when a bunch of black guys, probably 6 or 7, boarded the bus at either Camden Town or Holloway Road. I dont mean to be racist, but these guys were all kinda intimidating. Most of them wore scarves or hankerchieves around their faces. 2 of them had masks on. It was Halloween. One of them was wearing the mask the other way round so the mask was at the back of his head whereas it was just a black piece of cloth over his face. The other had his mask on his head, but still you couldnt see his face. Only one or two of them didn't really have their faces covered. I was with a friend at that time and he immediately expressed his discomfort. I thought to myself, "Boy, if these guys wanted to, they could rob the whole bus!"

Anyway, when the bus stopped at Finsbury Park, passangers started to alight. I was talking to my friend when suddenly there was a commotion. We were all sitting on the top deck. One of the black guys was beating up this white guy. His friends came along and started helping him too. Other passengers started to tell them to break it up but no one really dared intervene. Then a Latino looking man got up to try intervene. First he tried to get the first black guy off the white guy and when the black guy starting hitting at him, he grabbed the black guy from the back and threw him on the floor and started beating him up. From behind, the black guy's friends seemed to want to attack the Latino guy, but I think people on the other side were trying to stop them. It was getting really rough and I feared they would come to the back of the bus where I was at as they kept moving up and down. Passengers from that part of the bus literally jumped over seats to get away.

Other passengers were also trying to get the Latino guy to stop cause of what they saw. Apparently some of them saw one of the black guys wield a knife about a foot long. Once the Latino guy stopped, the gang of black guys ran off the bus. People saw one of the black guys keeping his knife in his jacket before he alighted. The bus driver came up to see if everyone was alright and if anyone was stabbed or anything of that sort. Shortly after the police arrived. However, by that time everyone else had left the top deck of the bus and taken other busses to continue their journeys except the white guy, the Latino, me and my friend and one black guy who appeared not to want to engage with anyone. He had his eyes closed and his hand covering his eyes.

The police started to take details from the victim and the Latino and I got to hear that the first black guy was actually trying to rob the white guy. He was sitting with the white guy until we came to Finsbury Park and just before he got up, he had grabbed the white guy's backpack. The white guy then got up and grabbed for his bag. That was when the black guy started to attack him. The police then asked if he could identify any of them and he said he couldnt because of the masks. Then they looked around and ask the rest of us if we could. Me and my friend then explained to them that the attackers were wearing masks, hoodies and had most of their faces covered. They asked us if we could see their hands and etc and I confirmed that though they covered their faces, you could see that they were black because most of them had their eyes exposed. As for those with masks on, I said I was pretty sure they were black too.

Not long, more cops arrived and they discussed the situation. Attempted Robbery. They then talked about pursuit of the culprits but they were unsure if they had jumped into Finsbury Park or had run the other direction. Right after the black guys left though, a phone was found on the floor and no one claimed it. When we told the police the phone had been taken downstairs by a passenger who had already alighted the bus, they then left.

Not too long after that, we were on our way...