Every city has its fair share of characters, and one that seems to rear his head a lot on the Boston MBTA subway is Jeffery Stuart, also affectionately known as Orange Line Rat Guy. While the 59-year-old was taken into custody back in 2023 due to being drunk and disorderly, accusations of “threatening” behavior with a rat were also levelled against him as well. Now, two years later, the Orange Line Rat Guy has struck again and is up to no good harassing subway passengers with his signature rodent in hand.
The 13-second clip is taken from the perspective of a passenger sat opposite Stuart, and kicks off with some expletives. It appears that the Boston man has been drinking as his speech sounds a little slurred. It’s unclear what started the exchange, but the clip opens with, “That’s exactly who the f*** you are. You’re f***ing with society now. Welcome to your nightmare. Welcome to your nightmare.” As the man delivers his bizarre speech to the other passengers, the lady sat cross-legged next to him seems completely unfazed by the interaction as she continues staring at her phone for the entire incident.
Furthermore, while speaking to the passengers, Stuart wields his pet rodent in hand, pointing down the aisle of the train, almost making it appear like the rat is the one doing the talking. Clearly, the Orange Line Ray Guy has not learnt his lesson from his prior arrest, though it’s fair to say that it does look like onlookers are pretty nonchalant about the whole interaction.
Interestingly, a Reddit thread from a year ago does detail one woman’s experience upon meeting Stuart on the Charlestown transit line in Boston. In it, user tonepoems does admit that she thought that he was “definitely drunk,” but despite the negative press the man has received, she actually had a “nice conversation” with him. Furthermore, she finished her post, penning:
He mentioned how he had been arrested for having rats on the train before, but I kept it light, asking him what he fed Tom & Jerry (he had legit food with him in the bag), how is it they don’t run away (they were actually very attached to him).
Reddit
I declined from holding them after he offered, and he respected my answer and didn’t push it.
My heart was racing a bit fast once we got off, but all in all, I actually felt kind of bad for the guy. What happened to him in his life where his loyal rats are his only friends. :(
Ultimately, while Stuart may come across in a threatening way to the general public, it does sound like he has a friendlier side to him. Here’s hoping that there’s some sort of resolution to his story, so that Boston subway riders can ride in peace without fearing for their safety.
