BUNCHA TROUBLE
Arlene Bunch, who was dubbed a “miracle woman” in March 2023 after she survived a propane explosion in her home, is the subject of an online scandal after she was caught on video making racist remarks to an Indian family on an United Airlines shuttle bus at LAX airport.
Photographer Pervez Taufiq posted a video of Bunch raising both her middle fingers and calling him “f’ing crazy” and a “tandoori stinky ass” to Instagram on November 23. Taufiq has 147k followers on Instagram as of Thursday, December 5.
“Mortified we just went through this,” he wrote in the caption of the post. “This lady was harassing our son on the flight, unbeknownst to us, asking him if he was Indian and making comments. When we landed in LA and got on the transfer bus, she told our son to ‘shut up’ […] The remainder of this is what happened.”
Bunch is a California-licensed real estate broker who lives in Mammoth. She told her side of the story on Fox 11, where she said prior to the video, the family had been “aggressive” to her.
‘[Taufiq] pushed me to the side to get in front of me and the lady made him go back to the end of the line and he’s talking to his wife, ‘supposedly they are first class. Obviously, with no class and look at the way they’re dressed … they’re white trash,’” Bunch said.
Bunch also said she can get agitated easily since her brain injury from the propane explosion.
The Sheet reported on the explosion in the August 19, 2023 issue, and the article concluded with a link to her GoFundMe page, titled, “Mammoth Explosion – Family of 3 Lost Everything” which raised $29,645.
The GoFundMe page is still up, though it is no longer accepting donations.
Bunch reached out to the Sheet three months ago via text, and said her brain injury has affected her life dramatically, preventing her from getting work and making her subject to eviction.
“I need more surgery,” she wrote in the text. “Severe brain damage [is] affecting my language and speech and [I] have been on every job interview in town. I can’t even get a job as a night auditor due to my diminished brain functions.”
