Racist, homophobic remarks at San Ramon In-N-Out spark police investigation, arrest

A customer at an East Bay In-N-Out was caught on camera making racist and homophobic comments toward two college students on Dec. 24 in a viral TikTok video.

Arine Kim and Elliot Ha were recording a video of their orders at the burger restaurant in San Ramon when a man can be heard off camera calling the pair “weird homosexuals” and asking Ha if he was “Kim Jong Un’s boyfriend.”

San Ramon Police arrested the man, Jordan Douglas Krah, Monday afternoon on two counts of committing a hate crime after launching an investigation into the incident Dec. 25. As of Monday, the video has been viewed more than 9.1 million times on TikTok.

“I got this on camera, but these kinds of incidents happen on a daily basis. It’s not an isolated incident,” Kim said to The Mercury News.

Kim, who attends UCLA and grew up in Moraga, and Ha, who attends Duke and grew up in Livermore, said tried to laugh off the man as a “fear response” before the situation escalated.

“In my head, I didn’t think much of it when he made his first comment… but then, afterwards when he kept coming up, and the second he mentioned Kim Jong Un, and kept talking to us… I was like, oh okay, maybe I might die. I might die today,” Kim said.

In the video, the customer continued to ask the pair questions and said, “normally, I could spit in your face, that’s some Filipino [expletive].”

Kim and Ha look uncomfortable in the video, and Kim urged Ha not to react. The customer said “see you outside in a minute” and proceeded to watch them through the window from outside the restaurant while they ate. Staff at the In-N-Out escorted Kim and Ha to the parking lot after the man left.

Related Articles

• Crime and Public Safety |

  
  A Colorado high school is one of 60 nationwide teaching AP African American Studies for first time

• Crime and Public Safety |

  
  Colorado Springs hotel apologizes to “Mr. Cooper” star Mark Curry after he said he was racially profiled there

A similar incident occurred the next day at 11 a.m. on Dec. 25 outside a store in Danville, where Abigail Hailili faced a racist rant from a man in a Silver Mustang with Florida plates, according to ABC7.

She said a man tried to spit at her and her family and went on to call them “Filipino idiots.”

San Ramon Police Chief Denton Carlson said on Twitter the department has an open investigation into the incident.

“We are continuing to investigate & have made significant progress. Once we have more info to share, we will provide the full details,” Carlson said.

Kim said the incident was an example of the racism she’s faced growing up in a largely white community in the East Bay.

“Nothing much has changed, and I hope that more people are aware,” Kim said. “I think this video really helps to encapsulate our fear and really brought attention to the fact that, even though it happened to just us, this could also happen to anyone.”

Source: Read Full Article