I just experienced a random act of violence

That’s terrifying. Good job with getting a pic. Report it to the police with pics.

Make a report to the cops and include the picture. I know it may be futile but if this guy has done this multiple times and had multiple reports the cops may pick him up.

Why he attacked you is irrelevant. That guy is crazy. It may have been that you didn’t make eye contact. Who the fuck knows

Get some pepper spray even some of the small cans can shoot ten feet. Pepper spray may only delay the threat not end it.

Jesus, that's terrifying! I'm so glad you're okay! The seething hatred toward women is astounding and heartbreaking. I think most of us have a horrifying story or two, don't we? One of mine that just popped up - a guy randomly threw an M80 firecracker at me through his car window when I was waiting for a bus. Thank God my only physical injury was temporarily f'd up hearing. The psychological trauma was far worse. Here I am, years later, shaking like it just happened. I'll bet that dude never gave that moment a second thought.

This is strangely not the first recent violent case of a man throwing a botlle or alike object at a woman 

Damn. *hugs* I'm so sorry.

This guy once snuck up behind me at the park, and I turned by some miracle and he was right there, and he veered off dramatically and walked away. I ran home.

Good job. You saved you. Yes, we're used to whacked out crap and your situational awareness kept you safe.

Feel it now. Know you did fantastically amazing. You are not the type to give your power away.

ETA: I recognize "power" is a loaded term. Let's replace it with autonomy.

People can just be horrible. I’ll never forget the day I finished work and was making my way to the train station when I passed 2 younger men who spat at me (I too did nothing to provoke this, I was simply minding my own business).

It really does make you feel like crap though.

I am so sorry that happened to you. Something similar just happened to me, actually. I was walking home from the gym (wearing sweat pants and a sweatshirt), and this very obviously drunk guy started following me. I noticed and did my best to cross streets and try to lose him. I did at some point. Then all of a sudden I hear him running towards me from behind me. He yells horrible slurs at me and chucks a full cup of beer at my head. All this happened really fast. I tried to position myself in a well lit place and near people. Some guy 2 feet away watched this happen to me and did literally nothing. I got on the phone with my husband and ran home, trying not to cry. Soaked in beer. I felt so much anger at this asshole for ruining my gym bag, ruining my evening, and ruining my faith to walk alone in my own neighborhood. Sometimes I really hate men.

That's fuggin terrifying. I'm glad you're physically okay. I'm sorry you went thru that =/

Maybe because you didn't make eye contact, he was offended you didn't give him the time of day and wanted to aggressively force you to give him attention. Gross behavior. Report him to the cops.

I'm sorry this happened to you.

That sounds awful 😞

Between this, and the post about the person throwing a galss bottle at someone, this is why the bear is a better option.

jesus... please get yourself some counceling and report it to the police.

You are not the type to GIVE your power away? Get out of here with the victim blaming crap. If she had frozen that would not have been her GIVING UP her power. I’m glad op got a picture also, but if she hadn’t… wouldn’t have been her giving up anything, it still would have been someone trying to TAKE from her.

And they ask why we chose the bear.

So glad you are ok OP

So sorry this happened to you, OP.

It's quite disconcerting that assaults like this are a trend. The NYT also had a piece about the roots in misogyny.

Glad you reported this freak, and hopefully the police actually do their jobs and arrest him.

The singing was to get your attention. Because you, a woman, did not automatically give precious coddled baby your attention, he lashed out and attacked you. It's unhinged behavior.

Glad you have good situational awareness. Probably saved you a hassle, at minimum.

I am so sorry, I've been through something similar, and I can imagine how you must be feeling. Your adrenaline must be buzzing.

I can think of at least two times that something similar has happened to me, and both times it was because I failed to acknowledge the man. Like how dare I take up space in his world and not even acknowledge his presence. All for just walking down the street, basically.

You didn't do anything wrong. That man has something wrong in his head. Whatever it is, misogyny, racism, genuine mental illness, who knows. You didn't contribute to this incident occurring.

Post his pic on a dallas next door or Facebook we need to be watching out for eachother

JFC. I am so glad you are safe

Omg as a pregnant small woman, this kind of thing terrifies me. I would be devastated if some random act of violence happened to me that affected my health and the baby.

Post his pic on social media, other women in your area need to be aware that he is a threat

I live in a pretty large city and do my best to never pull my phone out while walking. I try to be super aware of what's going on and in my area I know people will see someone on their phones and target them.

Be careful out there!

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I can't imagine how scary that must've been. Do you have friends or family you can be with for a little while? It might be a good idea to be around people who make you feel safe and loved right now. Sending you all the love.

Since we're all sharing stories in solidarity, I'll share mine:

The scariest stranger encounter I had with a man was when my friend and I were walking back from a night class. The college is in a super sketchy part of town. Every single day I walked to and from class, I was cat-called, blocked in my path to be told creepy weird things, and harassed. I was only 20 at this point. Well, as my friend and I were walking home, a guy yelled something obscene at us from his car and I was so fed up that I said, "fuck off" and flipped him off. I thought he wouldn't have heard or seen as he was already driving off ahead of us. Well, I was wrong. He immediately screeched his car into the parking lot we were approaching and jumped out of his car. He said, "what the fuck did you just say to me bitch?" and as he's saying it, he's reaching into his jacket. My flight response kicked in because I assumed it was a gun. Before I could even see what it was, I grabbed my friend and we ran to a restaurant that was thankfully right behind us across the street. I had never ran so fast in my life. We ran to the back of the restaurant and hid. We waited for a while until he was gone and had a friend come pick us up to drive us the rest of the way.

I've also had cars follow my friends and I after walking home from bars. I had a man watching me through my window, unbeknownst to me, until my friend and her boyfriend came home and saw. They chased him off. I've been groped and grabbed. That's not even including the stuff that men in my own family have done to me. It's scary and awful out there. I wish I could make the world a safer, more comfortable place for all us women. Sending you all love and peace 💜

This kind of thing is why women choose the bear.

That's terrifying. I'm glad you're ok and I'm glad you got a picture!

Inspect tbe area where it broke. Sniff and look for burn marks in case it was an attempted chemical/ acid attack.

I’m honestly not sure why (assuming) men are coming onto this thread and making excuses. This experience must have been absolutely terrifying and I’m so sorry. Glad you managed to get it to the police, sending hugs your way. 🩷

I’m sorry this happened to you it sounds absolutely terrifying. Stay safe 💖

Passing this on to my fellow women: a woman cop I know told me that being on your phone increases your risk. It's better to put the phone down and focus on your surroundings.

OP's experience sound frightening.

There's only one solution for these types of violent men whom commit heinous crimes...

Why does it matter and why is it relevant that he's black, OP? Sorry you had to experience this.

I’m so sorry this happened to you. And thank goodness your response seemingly de-escalated him.

Can I ask gently, is there a reason stating his race here is important? Do you think it was racially motivated? Are you not black? I understand if you are wanting to warn your local community with his specific description, or reporting to police, but I’m concerned that using his race here will serve to perpetuate the myth that black men are more dangerous to women than any other race. Thank you for the consideration.

So...definitely bear then.

Paper trail! He may do this to someone else who isn't so lucky. He may try again to hurt you. He is now on the radar in the area.

Please ladies always have someone when going anywhere. It’s really best to not going anywhere alone.

You may get further traction posting his photo on a social media platform like tiktok or a community message board. I’m sorry the cops weren’t interested in helping.

Could be mental illness…could be a projection of feeling ignored. Could be a homeless guy.

I’ve come across a few men who are bothered by people, especially women, who stare down at their phones and not look up, don’t even acknowledge their presence, nor give eye contact. I’m not completely sure as to why they feel that way, but that’s what a few have said to me.

Then you have other weirdos that get pissed and react the same way if you do give eye contact. It’s a lose lose situation. The best thing to do is NOT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE, be aware of your surroundings at all time, and as soon as you see a stranger walking in your direction, CROSS THE STREET. Steer clear of strangers. You never know.

Life has taught me anything never wear headphones wen out in public if late night, isolated away from public view, or unsafe area. If you do, make sure that stuff isent noice canceling on low enough volume yorj aware surraounds . World dangerous place.

I'm so sorry this happened to you and I'm glad you are safe at home and that you reported it! People are truly unhinged these days.

I do a lot of outdoor exercise, alone, and in researching ways to keep myself safe, one of the things I learned was that people who attack others are most often looking for victims who are unaware of their surroundings. They want someone who is immersed in something else (like looking at their phone, listening to music, staring into the middle distance etc), and who can't identify them (they look for people don't make eye contact or they go from behind when you didn't see them yet). The element of surprise increases their chance of getting away with their crime. The secondary benefit of looking everyone in the eye when you pass them (and this is morbid I know) is that should you go missing, those people are more likely to be able to remember having seen you if they are asked ("yeah I remember that girl with the green shirt! I saw her here yesterday." etc). It feels weird to do if you're not used to doing it but if you practice it will start to feel more comfortable.

One way to reduce the likelihood that some asshole will choose you to assault is to make sure you appear extremely aware of your surroundings and what's going on near you - looking people in the eye so they know you can identify them, not being on your phone, not listening to music etc). You did nothing wrong here and obviously there are people who are going to try to hurt others anyhow, and we should all be able to go about our lives without having to alter how we want to do things, but these are some minor things I've done when I'm alone that help me feel safer when I'm out alone, and maybe they will help you in the future.

The gun people talk about situational awareness.