Two friends of Asian descent were filming a TikTok video of themselves trying out different food items at an In-N-Out Burger in San Ramon, California, on Christmas Eve.
Their moment of casual fun was disrupted by a man who confronted them in a homophobic and racist incident in which he told them:
“You’re filming yourself eating? You’re weird homosexuals.”
Arine Kim and her friend, who were both seen in the video, gasped and couldn't help but react with laughter from the shock of such a blatant statement.
Kim asked:
"Did that really happen?"
To which her friend confirmed it did.
But the confrontation was not over.
You can watch the full video, here.
WARNING: NSFW language
The man returned and inquired about their ethnicity and then accused Kim's friend of having sexual relations with a North Korean dictator.
“Are you Japanese or Korean? Are you Kim Jong Un’s boyfriend?"
"You have gay sex with him?”
Refusing to give in to the man's taunting, Kim's friend engaged in conversation by denying he had sex with Kim Jong Un because:
"He hasn't taken me out to dinner yet."
The friend joked:
"Can I take you out to dinner?"
Kim shut down her friend's encouragement of the harassment, telling him to "Stop. Don't react," and "Why are you egging him on?"
The man then threatened to spit in their faces and continued antagonizing them as they tried to resume with their taste-testing video.
He told them:
"I'm a slave master you f'ng fag.
"See you outside in a minute.”
@arinekim/TikTok
@arinekim/TikTok
The friends remained quiet.
Off-camera, an individual who could have either been a customer or employee who noticed what was happening asked them if they were okay.
They confirmed they were fine.
She said:
“My friend and I were a bit shaken after the incident but I’m just grateful we’re both safe and out of harm’s way.”
Kim's friend faced the camera and remarked:
"This is not in the holiday cheer."
For safety concerns, the pair decided to stay at the location until it closed.
An employee made sure the man was not waiting for them outside and watched the friends get back into their car.
@arinekim/TikTok
@arinekim/TikTok
Kim later posted the video on social media, where it caught the attention of San Ramon Police Chief Denton Carlson.
Carlson retweeted the post, asking Kim to reach out.
On Sunday, Carlson tweeted a photo of the suspect driving a silver mustang with Florida plates.
He said the man pictured in the tweet had displayed "similar behavior."
The photo was allegedly taken early on Christmas morning.
The man was identified as Jordan Krah from Denver, Colorado, who was also arrested for an isolated incident involving him spitting at a Filipino family and hurling racial slurs at them.
Kim said she and her friend were pressing charges for the encounter with Krah being a hate crime and making them feel like their lives were being threatened.
Kim told viewers she was initially unsure of how her video was going to be received on social media but was overwhelmed with all the messages of support.
"I didn't know how everyone was going to react when I posted the video."
"I honestly thought our experiences were going to be diminished and that's why we didn't want to go to the police."
"Since he didn't physically harm us we thought we didn't have a leg to stand on, and we didn't really think anyone would really care."
She continued:
"Growing up in a predominantly White community, dog-eating jokes as well as Kim Jong Un jokes were a very very common thing that I heard growing up."
"So when he had those Kim Jong Un comments and everything that he said I honestly didn't think that anyone would take me seriously."
Kim said she was glad to use a platform enabling her to share her story and spread awareness about Asian hate in addition to the kinds of:
"atrocities that minorities have to go through on a daily basis."
@arinekim/TikTok
@arinekim/TikTok
She also touched on the fact that many similar incidents occur without a video record of it ever happening across the country and that many people don't have a social media platform on which to talk about being victims of racism.
Following the comments in which people shared similar stores, Kim encouraged them to keep sharing their experiences and continue standing up for themselves, adding:
"And this goes for not only Asian Americans but also minorities and people of color as well."
Kim concluded her follow-up video by reminding people to report anti-Asian hate crimes on the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate's website to help influence policy changes and accountability.
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