As noted earlier, the punchy old man who likes to deliver beat downs on Oakland bus riders appears to have been identified and it was not, as they say, "his first rodeo."


The ID is not definitive, but observers on the web believe that the "I am a motherfucker" in question is Thomas Bruso, who was arrested at an Oakland A's game last year after a confrontation with police. He's seems a little bit thinner and a lot more aggressive, but it may be the man alternately known as "Tom Slick," "Vietnam Tom" and now "Epic Beard Man." He has been known around the Bay Area for many years and one local blogger described him thusly:

Tasers And Foul Balls Make For An Eventful Night In Oakland At most ballgames, you're lucky if one interesting thing happens in your section. A foul ball, a… Read more

Back in 1996, I was working at the intersection of 2nd & Market. Each and every day the man pictured above would walk by my shop, wave a loaf of sourdough in my face, and scream obscenities about the San Francisco 49′ers.


He is also the type of guy is that lies about his age to make himself seem older. (The police reports from the ballgame arrest lists him as 64.) Who knows what his military background or current mental status is, but he definitely seems a little unstable and very, very strong. And also a new hero to anyone who has been harassed on public transportation. Here's another video that appears to be taken shortly after the bus incident.

The boys at 4Chan have allegedly launched a campaign to get his tote bag back from the camera-person who took it, even though she actually spoke up and claims she gave it back, and it may not have actually belonged to him in the first place. Details are not exactly solid on this story. But we'll leave you with this completely unverified email from someone who really likes to call people "cat" and consider it a tribute to "Tom Slick," while hoping that no one has to cross paths with his fists again.

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[Thanks to SFist for the background info.]

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So this about the "I am a Motherfucker guy" on the Oakland bus. I saw this cat that day. Here's what he was up to just before the incident: So I'm waiting on the NL bus to San Francisco on the corner of Fruitvale and MacArthur in East Oakland (not ghetto East Oakland). It's a good neighborhood. Anyway, it's a beautiful day and I had to go to work. So I arrive at the bus stop at 1:35pm. The bus leaves at 1:45pm. The weather is gorgeous. Not a lot of people out. A sleepy day. There are three Mexican kids at the bus stop as well. The kind of kids that try so damn hard to be street but just can't quite pull it off: "nigga" this, "nigga" that, "ya feel me". It was funny, yet a little sad. So out of nowhere I see this cat in a Santa Claus Silver beard come bombastically walking towards the bus stop. This cat was LOUD. He walks up to the kids and it looked for a second as they might have been getting off on the wrong foot but it was just that they were got a kick out of his "I am a Motherfucker" shirt. When I saw it, I laughed too. IAAMF guy pulls out a pack of generic menthol 100's cigarettes and gives one to the 3 Mexican kids to share. Then he puts on a show. He telling everybody how hard he is (in a funny/jovial way). I believed him. He's yelling how he got his ass beat by 6 Black guys in Chicago for wearing an A's hat. It was in the bathroom and while he was pissing, he got hit over the head with a bottle. He also talked about the time he got beat up by the cops in NYC and that's why he was yelling at the "pig" OPD who was across the street in his patrol car. The Mexican kids were loving it. I kinda was too. He then goes on about how "high" he is and that he just "smoked some of the best shit in town". Then he talked about (when I say "talk", I mean very loud almost yelling) wanting to get "some pussy". I laughed and he walks over and gives me a high five. He goes on to say that he's hung like a mule and that "even guys want to suck my dick". I believed THAT. This is all great street theater. So it's about 3-5 minutes before the bus comes and he spots this cat across the street. This guy is a famous shoe-shiner in the City. I know the guy. IAAMF guy yells and runs across the street. He almost got killed in the process as he didn't look both ways and seriously ALMOST got hit. I'm thinking this guy really is a MOTHERFUCKER. Apparently IAAMF didn't have enough money for the $4 transbay fare (I know, rip off) so he got some cash from shoe-shine guy. I guess they "go back 20 years man". That Brown Bag that you see on the bus that the ghetto kids say "let's go through it" was actually IAAMF guy's buddy's bag. Yes he had a friend. His friend never said a word and he didn't have his bus fare either. So when the bus came IAAMF guy couldn't get on it. My guess: They scrounged some bus fare and hopped the next bus. In closing, in The Town you have a lot of these young/not so young black kids that fuck with white people on the bus. Not just any white guy but white guys that seem vulnerable to them. Just the other day there was this guy that looked like Tug Speedman's character in Tropic Thunder. The mentally challenged guy. He got fucked with on the bus. It wasn't cool. There is also a "slow guy" that's a neighborhood guy whom I've seen get fucked with. I think this guy and his crew thought IAAMF guy was an easy target too hence the "beat his white ass" remark. You never know who you're fucking with. That cat had it coming to him. Thanks for your time,

Chuck

Earlier: Old Man Gives Young Whippersnapper What For