Thomas Bruso Epic Beard Man

In February 2010, Thomas Bruso was featured in a YouTube video where he gets into a verbal confrontation with a black man on a bus. (See AC Transit Bus Fight for additional videos and information.) The argument escalates and the visibly older 'beard man' then moves to the front of the bus. Bruso shouts that he is a 67-year-old man. The younger black man in the video then follows him to the front and throws a punch. In response, the 'beard man" beats the man to a bloody pulp. After being punched numerous times by the beard man, the younger man shouts "I will f--- you up." The woman recording the incident then takes the "beard man"s bag. The video was recorded by a woman named Iyanna Washington, who claims she never stole the "beard man"s bag, which she can be seen taking in the video.http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-5245168/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmJpZ25ld3NuZXR3b3JrLmNvbS8/cmlkPTMyMzIwMDUxJmFtcDtjYXQ9MjAxMzRlNTNiNGUxMjgzMA==

Thomas Bruso aka "Tom Slick" or "Vietnam Tom" is the "Epic Beard Man" featured in the AC Transit Bus Fight video. The February 2010 bus fight incident wasn't the first YouTube video that he's been in; another video titled "Police Tase 'Fan' At Oakland A's Game" shows the elderly man being tasered for sitting in the wrong seat at an Oakland Athletics baseball game and not complying with police. That video was uploaded to YouTube in August of 2009. Police reports at the time said Bruso was 62 years old.http://www.infowars.com/cops-taser-old-man-for-sitting-in-wrong-seat-at-baseball-game/http://thekatycapsule.com/wordpress/62-year-old-man-tasered-at-baseball-game-for-sitting-in-wrong-seat/#more-1112 In the bus video the "beard man" is wearing a t-shirt that says "Tom Slick."

A few days after the bus fight, Bruso gave a local news station an exclusive interview, see the video below.

In August of 2009, Thomas Bruso was tased at an Oakland A's game for resisting arrest. According to news reports at the time, Bruso was "drunk and belligerent and yelling profanities" at police officers. Police said they used the taser because the man, in his 60s was not cooperating. He was taken out of the stadium on a "5150" for a psychiatric evaluation, but was discharged from San Leandro psychiatric facility.http://www.ktvu.com/news/20312688/detail.html Police also said Mr. Bruso had an arrest record and a shopping center in San Fransisco was granted a temporary restraining order against him in 1994. When the video was uploaded to YouTube it reignited the controversy over whether tasers are excessive force, especially in Oakland, California.http://www.ktvu.com/news/20312688/detail.html Police defended the police officer's actions.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/crime/detail?entry_id=45083