Filmmaker Mahnoor Euceph graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, United States in 2017. She is of Pakistani descent and her boyfriend was born to a white father and a Chinese mother.

Euceph, her boyfriend and his parents are all U.S. citizens. The four recently spent a vacation in Milan, Italy.

On April 16, 2023, Euceph, her boyfriend and his parents were riding a train from Lake Como in Lombardy, Italy to Milan. Also on the same train seated near the four American tourists were three Italian citizens namely Elisa Tortora, Margherita Gentile and Lucrezia De Vecchis.

Tortora attends the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. Gentile is a student of the Istituto Universitario di Lingue Moderne while De Vecchis is a student of the University of Milano-Bicocca in Milan.

While on the train from Lake Como to Milan, Euceph recorded Tortora, Gentile and De Vecchis mocking and laughing at the Asian American family on vacation. The three Italian university students were recorded looking in Euceph’s direction, repeatedly laughing and trying to mimic the Chinese language.

The video of the racist behavior of Tortora, Gentile and De Vecchis went viral on social media. Their respective universities have released statements condemning all forms of racism and discrimination.