Sajid Latif (left) is seated while a video captured an unknown man spitting. Photo: Supplied.
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains language and footage that some readers may find distressing.
A Wagga Muslim community leader has reported to police an incident in which a stranger allegedly spat in his general direction and called his friend a “dumb c***”.
Sajid Latif, vice president of the Muslim Association Riverina Wagga Wagga (MARWW), was chatting with friend Naveed Aslan at a park near the Wagga South Bakery on Sunday (10 May) when they were approached by the man.
“We’d just dropped off our children at Sunday school and thought we’d enjoy the beautiful sunshine near the Wollundry Lagoon,” Mr Latif told Region.
“While we were chatting, a guy circled us a few times and then came down and sat with us. We’d never met him before and didn’t know who he was.”
A video of the incident recorded by Mr Aslan shows the man, who was wearing glasses and appeared to have an injured arm, spitting in their general direction.
“Did I get ya?” he said.
“I spat over there.”
After being told he was being recorded, the man began using foul language.
“You can do whatever the f*** you want to do. I’m recording you, look in here, you’re on f****** record all the time you dumb c***.”
When the man was told the incident would be reported to police, he backed away and walked off.
Region has edited out the foul language in the below video of the incident.
“We felt that we shouldn’t allow this sort of behaviour to happen, so we reported it to police. People should not be targeted in this way in any shape or form,” Mr Latif said.
He said police officers had been supportive and he was hopeful the man could be identified and spoken to.
Mr Latif said he would discuss the matter with a lawyer this week before deciding whether to pursue further action if the man is identified.
“We have young families and may not want to be involved in what could be an exhausting court process,” he said.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in the last 10 years in Wagga. It’s surprising and unfortunate.”
The MARWW vice president, who works as a senior technical officer in chemistry at Charles Sturt University, said he believed the recent Farrer by-election campaign may have heightened tensions in the community.
“If you look at the election campaign, some of the ads were quite disturbing and dragging us back to the 1970s,” he said.
“We are an educated society and very supportive of multiculturalism, so it’s a shame about the current political mood.”
Immigration was a key issue during the Farrer by-election campaign. Parties including One Nation and the Liberals campaigned for lower migration levels, while broader debates around housing and cost-of-living pressures also featured prominently throughout the contest.
NSW Police has been contacted for comment.
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