Woman struck in neck at symphony

Professor says other patrons in section sided with the man following altercation

Aisha Ahmad’s night out at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was ruined before it even began.

The University of Toronto international security professor says she’s not sure if she’ll ever go back to see concerts at Roy Thomson Hall after the treatment she received from staff following an altercation with another patron Wednesday, in which she says she was physically assaulted and insulted.

“This is an incredibly embarrassing thing to have happened to me in a city that I love,” she said.

It all began when Ahmad tried to take a non-flash picture of the orchestra before the show started, something many concert-goers do.

An older man sitting behind her “struck me in the neck,” she said.

When she tried to tell him off, she said he called her a child and a “bitch.”

“What was most disappointing was the other people in the section, just having looked at both of us, decided that I must have been in the wrong,” she said, noting she was the only person of colour in that section.

When she realized other patrons were siding with the man, she “felt threatened” and went out to report the incident to staff.

But staff told her they wouldn’t do anything until the intermission, so she waited in the hallway for almost an hour.

At the intermission, Ahmad said the same man came straight up to her and “lunged at me.”

“This happened in front of everybody,” she said.

Staff “did not stop him, did not detain him, but said they needed to hear his side of the story.”

She later called the police, but staff escorted the offender out of the theatre before police arrived.

A spokesperson for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) told Metro in an email that the man is no longer welcome at the TSO, and that police have been notified about the matter.

“The TSO has zero tolerance for violent, disrespectful behaviour,” Francine Labelle wrote. “We regret this happened at a TSO concert, where everyone is welcome and should feel safe.”

Ahmad, who is a regular at the symphony, said she’s concerned about the institution allowing such behaviours to flourish.

“Our city is remarkable in its diversity, and yet I was the only woman of colour in that entire section, and that made me wonder whether we have these toxic pockets of exclusion that are inconsistent with the spirit of our city,” she said.

“I didn’t sleep well last night and I haven’t eaten any food today,” she added. “This distracted me from my important work on international security.”