Georgia man tells Spanish-speaking teenager to 'speak English' in crowded restaurant, boasts about being racist in viral video
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: A second-generation immigrant was the victim of a racist attack at a fast-food restaurant, with video of the incident showing a man yelling at her to speak English after he overheard them conversing in Spanish, and then proudly proclaiming that he was racist.
While 19-year-old Cristine Riofrio's parents are from Ecuador, she was born in California, but that didn't stop her from being targeted at the local McDonald's by a middle-aged man who reportedly was an employee at the sheriff's office.
Riofrio starting filming him as he started his rant and told her to "shut the f*** up" because she was speaking in Spanish. He claimed people like him "built this f****** country" while she just "came over in a f****** boat."
When Riofrio alleges that he's a racist, he takes it in stride and responds, "I know I am. Yeah, sure am. That's me. I built this f****** country." She tells him that he shouldn't be proud of that, and he just shrugs his shoulders and hits back, "Speak English."
At the end of the video, other diners can be heard backing the 19-year-old and ask the man to leave the restaurant as soon he receives his order.
Speaking about the incident, Riofrio told WSAV, "I wish I could have said a lot of things, but at that time I was really mad and I couldn’t even speak."
"Actually one of my friends cried at that moment, I felt really bad for her," she added. "But, I didn’t want him to see us cry, see us as weak, acting weak, because we are not."
She said she wouldn't let this incident deter her from speaking Spanish in the future either. "A lot of people say, 'Are you okay, are you afraid?' But I am not, actually," she explained. "I am never going to stop speaking Spanish in front of white people, like I feel proud of where I am come from."
While the man has not been identified, it was confirmed that he was an employee of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and was fired after the video of his outburst clocked more than two million views on social media.
Sheriff John Wilcher said he would not be tolerating such behavior from anyone in his department.