Woman speaks out after alleged random assault in downtown Toronto

A Toronto woman says she is sharing her story of an alleged random downtown assault in hopes of raising awareness about the need to address violence in the city.

Brigitte Truong’s story of being attacked outside a downtown Starbucks has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Tiktok. She says she believes others are listening and engaging because they’re concerned about their own safety.

“At the root of it, I think we need to talk about mental health,” Truong tells CityNews. “Do we have the right resources in place?”

She says many of the people commenting on her now viral Tiktok, particularly female users, are sharing similar stories.

“Based on the comments I’m seeing on social media, I’m certainly not the first person who has been assaulted on the streets of Toronto.”

https://www.tiktok.com/@brigittetruong/video/7221568671972429061?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7197452919577970182

In an April 14 Tiktok, a tearful Truong recounts an alleged incident that she says occurred while she was making her regular coffee run at the Starbucks at Richmond Street and Spadina Avenue. She said she felt a jolt on her back seconds after walking out of the coffee shop.

“I am shook,” she says in the video, appearing to fight back tears. She says she recorded the TikTok shortly after racing home, still in disbelief from what had happened.

“A guy walking behind me whipped his full drink, like a takeout drink, at my back,” Truong described to CityNews days later. “In hindsight, I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have been walking around so casually with music blaring.”

Truong says she was initially confused, wondering if she had accidentally hit the man with the door on her way out of the restaurant. She asked him if she had done something wrong.

“He’s just screaming at me in rage,” she says in the video. “He yelled something at me and kept walking.”

Truong recounted two females who had witnessed the incident approached her and asked if she was alright, assuring her she had done nothing to warrant the attack.

She says she feels fortunate the assault wasn’t worse.

The incident was reported to the police but there is no word on any suspects.

Demand for self-defense on the rise

Violence in Toronto, particularly on the TTC, has made headlines in recent months and remains a major topic of discussion for candidates in the upcoming mayoral byelection.

A Toronto self-defense instructor tells CityNews the demand for his free monthly workshops has grown exponentially since the winter when reports of violence on public transit had become more frequent.

“Last year we were getting an average of 10 to 15 signups,” says Chris James, an instructor at The 519. “Now we’ll have anywhere from 30 to 50 signups.”

“We already have signups for May, June, and July. People are scared.”

James says that while his classes can help people protect themselves, they are not the solution for mental health issues in the city.

Premier Doug Ford has reiterated he wants to see more police patrolling Toronto’s transit system. Critics and opposition leaders have instead called for more investment in mental health support for vulnerable residents.

Toronto police put more than 80 officers working overtime on patrol in the TTC in late January in response to a spate of violence in the system but ended those shifts last month. Police said they were returning to deploying on-duty officers on the TTC for regular, proactive patrols.