Video of woman who stopped subway harassment goes viral

A video of a young woman stepping in to halt racial abuse on a New York City subway is circulating the internet.

The video, titled "Latina defends Muslim couple from another Latina in the NYC subway," has already amassed 1.6 million views on Facebook:

"Why are you here? Why are you in this country if you're not with us?" the older woman asked the couple. That's when 23-year-old Tracey Tong stepped up.

Tong, who identifies as Chinese Peruvian, talked to the woman in both English and Spanish. "I am born here and I don't like the way you are treating her," Tong told the woman.

At first the older woman told her not to scold her, but Tong said she wasn't. "We're all in this together. Whether we like what's going on in the government or not," Tong said. "F--- it. We gotta deal with it. You're a grown woman. Suck it up, and you defend your brothers and sisters."

See social media reactions to the video

Tong spoke to BuzzFeed News about the incident. She said that she had seen videos of vocal abuse happening in public -- and if she was witness to it, she would help. "I told myself that if I ever saw it happen, I would freak," she told BuzzFeed.

According to The Guardian, Tong would step in again if a similar situation should happen in the future. She said, "I just wanted the woman to feel safe on her commute to wherever she was going. I've been bullied before and she was having a form of bullying as well."

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