Early on Thursday, Saudi authorities in Riyadh arrested a national who slapped and assaulted an expat cleaner in one of the city's public parks. 

The arrest came just days after a video capturing the incident went viral on social media, angering thousands and leading many to call for action. 

The footage also led online users to speak out against the discrimination often faced by expats in the country. 

Many specifically highlighted the racism that Asian and African migrant workers are subjected to. 

Home to an estimated nine million expats, Saudi Arabia is finally taking appropriate action against anyone who previously thought they could belittle or mistreat people just because they're not nationals of the kingdom. 

The arrest came after this footage went viral

The intense backlash that ensued after the video went viral on Saudi Twitter led Riyadh authorities to issue a statement condemning the incident even before they managed to arrest the attacker. 

Here's how tweeps reacted to the video capturing the attack and news of the arrest. 

The incident left people fuming

"And when you say this society is regressed people get upset"

"We have two options: 

1- To admit that there's a rhetorical problem causing the regression we're living in and then study its causes to find solutions. 

2- To keep on convincing ourselves that we're the best nation ever, but then history will expose us, that's if it hasn't done that already." 

"Even if the worker did something wrong, there's nothing legal about beating him up"

"What goes around comes around! One day, he'll find himself in this worker's situation"

Many called on authorities to punish the attacker

And were relieved with news of the arrest

"May God honor our wise government! In our country, no one faces injustice, everyone gets their rights back." 

However, many are now asking this question

"How will we know what his punishment is?" 

Not the first assault against an expat in recent weeks

This isn't the first time an expat worker faces a discriminatory attack in the kingdom this month. 

Just last week, a security supervisor was fired from his job after he poured boiling tea on an expat worker in Jeddah. 

This came after a video capturing the assault went viral on social media.