I feel bad. I saw the tweet. It’s funny to see someone optimize commute time like that. Not so much when they don’t have a place to call home. Sorry. I didn’t mean it as a judgement. Sending positive thoughts.<doc-sep>A man captured in a viral video shaving while on a public train in New Jersey said he was trying to look "presentable" to his brother after spending several days in a homeless shelter. Last Thursday, a Twitter user named Pete Bentivegna posted a video showing Anthony Torres shaving using shaving cream and a razor while on the train. The video has been viewed 2.9 million times and drawn several comments making fun of Torres. "Disgusting, but talented," wrote one Twitter user in response to the video. "Nasty," read another comment. Several days later, once Torres learned of his viral fame, he spoke to The Associated Press, saying he had spent several days in a homeless shelter and didn't have time to clean up before meeting a brother in southern New Jersey. "My life is all screwed up," Torres told the AP. "That’s the reason I was shaving on the train." In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Torres said he bounced between Atlantic City and Manhattan, sleeping in homeless shelters and under bridges before taking the train home to see family. "It’s been rough," Torres said. "There were a lot of nights where I laid under the bridge and cried." Torres tells AP when he learned the video went viral, he was surprised. "I never thought it would go viral, people making fun of me," he said. In a follow-up tweet, Bentivegna said he didn't mean any harm in posting the video of Torres shaving. "I never intended any harm by taking or posting this video," he wrote. "There has been a lot of licensing interest and all proceeds will be going to support Anthony Torres and his family." It also had a lot of Twitter users striking back at those who shamed Torres on social media. Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.<doc-sep>Crime & Safety Man Shaving In Video On NJ Transit Says He's Homeless: Reports Anthony Torres told media outlets he was trying to look more presentable after spending time in a NYC homeless shelter. Reply A since-deleted viral video of a man caught shaving on a New Jersey Transit train lost its humor when the shaver came forward to say that he was homeless, according to multiple reports. In a widely shared video, Anthony Torres, 56, was spotted shaving on a New Jersey Transit train. Many mocked it as another oddity onboard the train, but Torres told the Associated Press he was shaving on the train because he had nowhere else to do it after spending several days in a homeless shelter. "My life is all screwed up. That's the reason I was shaving on the train," Torres reportedly said. Torres said he was taking the train from a homeless shelter in New York City to his brother's house in New Jersey after another brother had gifted him a train ticket. He wanted to shave before getting off the train so he would look presentable, Time reported. The sudden fame upset Torres, who did not know he was being filmed, NY Post reported. His older brother, Thomas Torres, was also upset, telling the paper that it's "hard to see the life [Anthonty Torres] has lived." The person who shared the video appears to have removed their Twitter account entirely. Patch was unable to contact the original poster before the account was removed. When the video was first posted, Twitter users responded with mockery or disgust. Since the news of Torres's situation spread, many have changed their tunes, saying it was wrong of them to "shame" Torres. stop shaming homeless people for existing in public! please read this to hear Anthony Torres speak about his life and struggle with homelessness https://t.co/e9YDDrvtWP — cargo pant (@gendergremlin) September 18, 2018 How I wish I could tell Anthony Torres that I'm sorry he was ridiculed by uncaring morons on Twitter just because he was shaving his face to try and look presentable after staying in a New York homeless shelter. God bless him, I hope his life gets better. — Per Firdous al-Buyun (@lissnup) September 18, 2018 .... I admire how #AnthonyTorres wasn't ashamed to take pride in himself. He knew he was more than his situation and, The Universe works in mysterious ways- an onlooker wanted to embarass him, instead he made the man famous lol. pic.twitter.com/o7nY1JK4rG — MyLife.MyWords. (@iTweetAtTimes) September 18, 2018 Others drew parallels to the recent "shaming" of Geoffrey Owens, the "Cosby Show" actor who was recently photographed working in a New Jersey Trader Joe's. Read More: Job-Shamed Actor From NJ Trader Joe's Speaks Out In college, my documentary filmmaking teacher(Jill Godmilow) predicted how dangerous everyone having a camera at their fingertips would be. Between #geoffreyowens and #anthonytorres, we are seeing this firsthand. We should all be ashamed of ourselves. — Paul Wallenberg (@Paul_Wallenberg) September 18, 2018 One prominent progressive fundraiser, Jordan Uhl, responded by establishing a GoFundMe. At press time, the fundraiser had raised $13,100.<doc-sep>
A man who was derided online after footage of him shaving on a train went viral has asked for public understanding, explaining that he had just spent several days in a homeless shelter and wanted to clean himself up. Anthony Torres, 56, spoke to the Associated Press after a fellow passenger on the train, Peter Bentivegna, uploaded the video of Torres onto Twitter. In the video, Torres is seen sat by himself on an evening New Jersey Transit train, his face slathered with foam, steadily applying the razor. The recording of Torres went viral, being watched more than 2.4 million times by Monday and prompting disdain and admonishment from some viewers. "I never thought it would go viral, people making fun of me," Torres told AP. "I don't want to say that I'm homeless, let everybody know. That's why I was shaving." "My life is all screwed up," he said. "That's the reason I was shaving on the train." Torres says that he had been staying in a homeless shelter in New York City up until Thursday, when he contacted his family for help. After receiving money from one brother for a train ticket, he was on his way to southern New Jersey to stay with another sibling, Thomas Torres. Anthony wanted to look as presentable as possible before he arrived, but had not had the chance to shower. Thomas contacted the media after seeing the video go viral, wanting to give some context to the recording. The Torres family grew up poor on a farm in Hammonton, New Jersey, and, according to Thomas, Anthony has experienced an especially hard time and can sometimes be oblivious to how his actions will be perceived. "When he did what he did, that to him was normal," Thomas said of the shaving incident. "He's not that kind of person that does it because of spite or because he wants the attention." In 2017, America's homeless population rose for the first time since the recession—a stark reminder that the homelessness crisis that began in the 1980s shows no signs of abating. Causes range from wages flat-lining to house prices soaring in certain parts of the country. Bentivegna, who uploaded the viral video of Torres, has since deleted his Twitter account.