A 67-year-old, known as the Epic Beard Man, became an Internet sensation for being captured on video fighting another man on an Oakland, Calif. transit bus.
The video shows the Epic Beard Man, officially known as Thomas "Slick" Bruso, engage in a conversation with the other man. Because of mis-communicated statements, the situation gets heated and bickering heightens. The man finally strikes Bruso. In retaliation, the Epic Beard Man springs to his feet and bloodies the man's face with a series of blows.
Reportedly shot Tuesday, Feb. 16 by an onlooker said to be with the second fighter, the clip became a viral hit on YouTube and pushed Bruso into the limelight.
A second video surrounding the brawl emerged this week, in which Bruso explains the bus battle.
According to the Epic Beard Man, who claims to be from Chicago, Ill., the recipient of his jabs and crosses, a black man, accused him of making negative racial comments. Bruso claims nothing he said could be construed as a racial slur.
The Epic Beard Man claims the argument started over comments made about his Stacy Adams shoes.
SEE BOTH EPIC BEARD MAN VIDEOS BELOW
CAUTION: VIDEOS CONTAIN GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Read more articles by Jim Hagerty
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Search for "Epic beard man tased" videos, for even more EBM fun.
Forget what colour either of these men were, to me it's still a case of natural justice.
hero!!!
Amber lamps!
Not only was the black guy acting ignorant but he was being cheered on by some ignorant woman too.. this truly had nothing to do with color.. Punks jump up to get beatdown!
The black guy here is clearly an angry dude who was just itching to fight somebody... I mean come on. He starts chattering about how he will put "a foot up Bruos's ass" over and over and over. And it certainly sounded like the person filming this wanted to see Bruso get beat down.... I don't care what she says.
"Say it again, Pinky!"
"Beat his white a--!"
Those are the words of Iyanna Washington, who, besides inciting violence with her racial epithets and stealing the older man's belongings after he exited the bus, taped this and posted it to Youtube.
Google Iyanna Washington to learn the details.
"Say it again, Pinky!"
1 minute 9 seconds from the beginning of the video
"Beat his white a--!"
1 minute 17 seconds from the beginning of the video
The black guy here is clearly an angry dude who was just itching to fight somebody... I mean come on. He starts chattering about how he will put "a foot up Bruos's ass" over and over and over. And it certainly sounded like the person filming this wanted to see Bruso get beat down.... I don't care what she says.
Washington either knows the guy or was simply there to someone get beat down. Regardless, she is liar. After Tom gets off the bus
WASHINGTON, points the camera to Tom's bag as says, "GO THROUGH THEY SH_T!"
epic beard man 200m get!
This story (above) actually gets it right...
"The video shows the Epic Beard Man, officially known as Thomas 'Slick' Bruso, engage in a conversation with the younger man which, because of MIS-COMMUNICATED STATEMENTS, gets heated"
It did not start out as a racial argument as others have stated. It was a mis-communication that turned ugly, and as the adrenaline started to pump, it unfortunately turned racial.
just remember that they steal the guy's stuff after they incite him to defend himself. Which they chuckle about at the end of the video. scum is scum.
Call da amber lamps !!
Was that watermelon that dumb bitch was eating at the end? That proves this altercation was firmly rooted in racial overtones, im sure he just chugged a gallon of grape soda, and was riding the bus to Church's chicken or Popeyes. (go ahead, flame away. I'll never see your responses because i have better things to do.)
did the girls get in trouble for stealing his bag??
F**K Iyanna Washington. She is the racist here.
He should have hit the bitch taping also.
he is my uncle. ............... uncle sam
Watch the fight video and pay attention to everything that is said. The ONLY people to say anything racist were the black people. Every other word from them was "N****R". Not once did "Slick" say anything racist.
"We can file charges" "I got it all on video". Stupid people make stupid statements and then post the video online and implicate the one person they were hoping would win in court. How can anyone watch that video and say the white guy did anything wrong?
it was the girl in the yellow shirt who said "beat his white ass" etc., not the one filming. Also the woman filming didn't steal his bag or go through it (even though yellow-shirt told her to do so). She just left it in the back of the bus. Also the 'epic beard man' must be schizophrenic, or something along those lines, although it doesn't really have any bearing on what happened. So bottom line is that the younger guy pursued the older guy, than took a swing at him. Obviously he deserved what he got (broken nose). So just remember, you can't always judge a book by its cover and picking fights on a bus can be a dangerous thing!
There should be more Epic Beard Men!
that poor guy. he's probably got ptsd or something.
EMB, I raise my glass to you!
I am in a similar situation to Mr. Bruso living in a west coast city and because of my fixed income I must use public transportation. I see this kind of activity all the time with these ghetto punks "thinking" older citizens are easy targets. What Mr. Bruso did to that trash was a girl slap and the punk went down crying like a baby with a bloodied nose.
Mr. Bruso was only defending himself from a piece of scum.
Mr. Bruso, I tip my glass to you this evening. You made short work of that piece of s____.
Not one person on that bus came to your assistance, they were cheering on the punk. Even the bus driver just hid while you were attacked by this lowlife scum.
What the punk did to you could get him locked for a long time if he has any priors, which you know he most certainly does.
"Say it again, Pinky!"
"Beat his white a--!"
Those are the words of Iyanna Washington, who, besides inciting violence with her racial epithets and stealing the older man's belongings after he exited the bus, taped this and posted it to Youtube.
i love the woman in the purple dress with the head phones who dident even move!
The casual racism exhibited by blacks on the street when they are in the majority is appalling. White people are taught to feel shame when they have a racist impulse. Black people are spoon-fed racism as a way of life. White working people did not create institutional racism against blacks, but they bear the brunt of black reprisal. Black people need to get over their racism. That's why Epic Beard Man is a hero.
Epic Beard Man = Man of the Year
His fists are epic
His face is beard
He's old enough to know better. And now that kid knows better too lol
Slavery, Jim Crow, Segregation, KKK
BLING DA AMBER LAMPS!
spades better pay attention to this. More to come I'm sure if they keep this bullshit up.
This man is king.
It's people like this that really deserve alot more than what life gave them. It's discusting that Iyanna Washington said "We can press charges, I got this on video." Press charges? This kid did indeed have prior for a violent crime and the she AND the gentleman in the fight were indeed charged for the theft of his possessions as the police were able to verify that his ID and the cash that his friend had recently lent him were both missing.
Long story short, these kids thought they could get away with punking some old guy on a bus. I feel no sort of sorrow for his bloody face. Furthermore I am completely DISCUSTED being a young black female to have been represented this way by every black person on that bus had nothing to do but support the young man in his obviously criminal and disrespectful acts.
Total. Dude.
Stop with the racial comments. Stay on track, a younger man provokes an older man, and the older man rightfully retaliates. It is less about race, and more about ageism, taking advantage of older man is wrong. That jerk needs to place his anger elsewhere, not on a random old man.
I'm in love with Amber Lamps
Iyanna: The mistake a videographer makes when they become the news.
Sir, you are a hero.
Thats what the punk gets. Acting all hard and he gets beat up by a old man. But now he's in jail so don't drop the soap.
A large part of the problem you see here is caused by the "hard" mentality of our generation- and as it turns out, most of these thugs are fake, pretending to be something they're not because they have been trained to think that it's "cool". So I present to you a question: Why does today's society put these a--holes on a pedestal?
A damn hero indeed. Go epic beard man!
This was clearly an attempt by Washington to try and get Bruso to do something crazy so she could get famous. People like Bruso, obviously mentally-ill, will fight at the drop of a hat. People like Washington are typically so lacking in the self-esteem department, they stoop to any level just to get people to notice them. Washington: You attempt to get famous was anything but creative. If you are studying art, Washington, pay attention to your instructors when they lecture about CONCEPT. Because there is none here.
While EBM is certainly a badass and did what was needed, he's still bat sh|t crazy.
knowyourmeme.com/memes/epic-beard-man
If you watch his "follow up" video, he makes claims that are flat out wrong, like he got sucker punched 3 times in the jaw and that he knocked the guy out cold for 20 minutes. Neither happened, and since we only get to see what happens after the confrontation has started, we don't exactly know what really brought it in. I AM inclined to believe EBM is relatively free of blame though. It's not uncommon for less scrupulous black people to try and bait someone into making a racist comment.
Ok, that old guy is just looking for attention... just look at his interview after.
"I got sucker punched 3 times"
"Hes a murderer"
"I shot one of 'em"
Seriously, he should not be role model, hes probably an old guy looking for attention, just like the young idiot was.
well ...I was walking the streets back in the 1970s ...I know what fights looks like ..This was a fight ....I have never seen a fight like this in years...may be 20 or 30 years..
There's no question it was a fight. But what happened here was the other guy and the girl shooting the vid figured they get the guy amped up and have something funny to brag abou and show their friends. I don't think they banked on messing with someone who wouldn't stand for a bunch of foolishness. Bruso is obviously disturbed... and people like him will throw fists at the drop of a hat. The joke is on Washington and dude whose nose was split all over the inside of the bus.
I agree. The lady that shot this video should be ashamed of herself. Sure, the video went viral... millions of people watched it... and the racial tension it caused overshadowed her little attempt get some personal fame. She isn't a journalist. She had business posting this. She should have turned it over to a reporter and let a professional journalist. Instead she started a race war.
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