This is nice, hopeful, decent!

Via NBC News:

“Twitter users pledged their support for Australian Muslims facing a possible backlash as a suspected Islamist gunman took hostages in a Sydney cafe. The hashtag #IllRideWithYou trended globally as unconfirmed reports suggest that women in traditional Muslim dress had been intimidated on public transport in Sydney. Australian Muslim leaders also released a statement condemning the cafe siege, calling it a “despicable act.”

From The Atlantic:

“On a train, one passenger reportedly spotted a Muslim woman removing her hijab, ostensibly out of fear of being targeted. The passenger told her to put it back on and offered to walk with her in solidarity. And so began #IllRideWithYou. The hashtag went viral and is currently still trending worldwide, hours after the end of the hostage crisis.

That number is now fast approaching 250,000. The tweets included calls not to blame all Muslims for the hostage crisis and, more universally, for greater tolerance. The initiative also included offers of companionship and solidarity for Muslim travelers who might not want to travel alone.”

Oh no! Another story of escalation, in Chicago this time. I’m glad to hear a bystander helped out and that the man was caught!

Via DNA Info:

“When a Bridgeport woman riding the “L” refused to give a man her phone number Monday, he followed her to another train car before putting her in a headlock and trying to steal her phone, prosecutors and witnesses said…

A witness who asked not to be named said he saw the attack unfold while sitting in his auto at a stoplight at Roosevelt and Wabash. He drove after Rosson, who ducked into a nearby restaurant on State Street. Several other bystanders were chasing Rosson on foot, the witness said.

Police arrested Rosson in the restaurant a few minutes later, court records show, and both the victim and several witnesses positively identified him as the attacker.

Rosson, who lives in the 2300 block of Spruce Road in south suburban Homewood, was charged with battery and attempted robbery.”

H/T Courage Campaign: CTA

Trigger Warning. Via BuzzFeed:

“Germans are mourning the death of a young student, Tugce Albayrak, who died after confronting a group of men harassing two teenage girls in the city of Offenbach…

Soon after, she was attacked in a car park by one of the men. Some reports suggest she was struck in the head with a stone or bat, while others say she was punched and hit her head on the pavement.

She sustained a serious head injury and was in a coma until Nov. 28, when her parents decided to turn off her life support after doctors told them she was brain dead. She died on her 23rd birthday.

An 18-year-old Serbian man is in police custody and has reportedly confessed to the attack, according to German public radio station Deutsche Welle.”

So outraged to hear about her senseless death!! She is a hero. May Tugce rest in peace.

It is heartening to hear about the outpouring of support for her. Via Haaretz:

“A large crowd bearing candles and flowers gathered Sunday outside the Offenbach hospital where Albayrak died, and where a vigil had been held since her hospitalization on November 15.

Meanwhile, hundreds paid their respects at Oranienplatz in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, according to the report.

A petition asking Gauck to posthumously award Albayrak the national order of merit was signed by some 100,000 people.”

There have been several other stories this year where bystanders have been hurt or murdered for speaking out. Here are four of them:

* The San Francisco man who sustained life-threatening injuries last month simply because he dared to ask a catcaller to leave his girlfriend alone. 

* The Egyptian teenager who was stabbed to death in October while intervening in a harassment situation.

* The Philadelphia man who was hospitalized after a harasser he told to watch what he was saying to women nearby got out of his vehicle and attacked him.

* The Chicago man killed by a harasser after he confronted him for making “inappropriate gestures” at his daughter.

 These people are heroes too, each of them standing up for another person — in most cases, a stranger — no matter the cost. May we all be as brave. And may there one day never be cause for us to have to be brave.