NYPD Officers Remove Man From Subway Following Alleged Odor Complaint as Riders Object—’Cowards’

A viral video showing several NYPD officers removing a man from a subway train is drawing attention online—not only because of the encounter itself, but also because of the events that allegedly led up to it.

According to X user @Crime_In_NYC, who reshared the clip, the confrontation started after passengers began moving between subway cars to “get away from a strong odor caused by a homeless individual.” In the process, one of the passengers was apparently confronted by police, though it's unclear whether it was the homeless individual or a random passenger.

According to the post, it sounds like officers arrived to provide assistance, but after they did, people on the train began screaming and yelling at them. The X user suggested officials should simply “let their train rides be filled with stinking bums. If they complain, don't help them.”

NYPD Officers Remove Man From Subway as Riders React

In the clip, NYPD officers can be seen going back and forth with a man on the train. After he appears to ignore officers' commands, they decide to physically remove him.

As the officers move in, one person in the background can be heard repeatedly yelling, “Oh, he got back up now,” suggesting they weren't siding with what the officers were doing.

At that point, at least four officers can be seen grabbing the man and pushing him down onto the seats until he's buried underneath them and can no longer be seen. Two more officers then join in, though there isn't much room for them to offer any help. Still, one female officer attempts to assist by reaching her arm into the pile of people.

The officers eventually get the man off the train, and as the last officer exits, one person yells, “A bunch of fucking cowards,” presumably directing it at the officers. Others, however, stand nearby, recording the entire incident as it unfolds.

What's still unclear is whether officers were removing the homeless man because of complaints about the alleged odor or whether this was simply another passenger police decided needed to be removed.

One commenter wrote, “This is why no one wants to be NYPD anymore... You try to help and this is what you get — a bunch of libtard idiots screaming at you for taking stinky off the Subway.”

Meanwhile, many others used the comments to call attention to what they described as the subway becoming a place where unhoused people seek shelter. “At night, the subway system unfortunately turns into a homeless shelter. I had to take the train very early one week and what I witnessed is seen in these images. It's disheartening.”

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the circumstances surrounding the incident or whether the man being removed was the individual referenced in the X post. The video alone does not establish what occurred before officers intervened.