A woman has told how she was racially abused and threatened at a Kent railway station while returning home from a protest.

Police are hunting a man after footage showed him launching a vile tirade at Folkestone Central on Saturday.

The video shows the man calling a pro-Palestinian protester, who was wearing a hijab, and those around her “scumbags”.

“Obliterate the lot of you – kill all of you,” he can be heard saying, before adding: “Scum – need eradicating.”

He can then be seen confronting another man who tries to defend the woman.

A Southeastern employee then steps in between the two men.

The woman who recorded the video, who has asked not to be named, told KentOnline she had journeyed from St Pancras towards east Kent after taking part in the Armistice Day protest calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.

She says while on the train the man in the footage had suddenly grabbed and scrunched up her placard carrying a message from her former lecturer.

She said: “My sign read ‘Palestinians are not begging the world to acknowledge our humanity, it is the world’s we are questioning - Rafeef Ziadah’.

“Rafeef was my former lecturer and she taught me so much about Palestine so I was proud to parade her words.

“I was shocked and mortified. I shouted after him asking why he would do this but he didn’t turn around.”

After getting off the train and being comforted by a fellow passenger, the Folkestone resident discovered that the man had also got off at the station.

“We waited by the barrier in case the man had got off at the same stop. It soon became clear that he had as he was shouting as he came down the platform,” she said.

“Luckily I had a group of people form a barrier around me to obstruct his view. I started filming for my safety.

“He proceeded to shout obscenities at me such as ‘eradicate ‘em all’ and ‘kill ‘em off’.

“After he’d passed the barrier a bystander told him to leave me alone and the aggressor started swearing at him, shouting: ‘Do you know what day it is?’

“I was so mortified and terrified. Two lovely ladies escorted me to my dad’s car who I had called because I did not feel safe walking home. I am still shaken up and can’t believe speaking up would garner this much hatred.

“I’d also like to mention that I am visibly Muslim. I recently started wearing hijab and it’s sad that I was clearly targeted for following my religion.

“But thankfully this has not shaken my faith and I intend to continue wearing hijab hopefully more regularly in the future and still fight for the liberation of Palestinians.

“I still have faith in humanity despite this and hope people can see me speaking up for this cause and be inspired to do the same.”

She added: “It’s so important right now to pressure our MPs to vote in favour of a ceasefire ahead of the potential vote this Wednesday, or I would have gone through what I did for nothing.”

Releasing an appeal complete with a screenshot from the video, a British Transport Police spokesman said: “The BTP are releasing this image following a racially aggravated altercation at Folkestone Station.

“Detectives want to speak with the person in the image as they believe he may have information that could help their investigation.

“Anyone who recognises them is asked to contact British Transport Police by texting 61016, or by calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 217 of 12/11/2023.

“You can submit information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

BTP confirmed today that they are still appealing for information.