‘Are you from America?’: Viral video shows woman attacking group of Asians following LA car collision
By Ryan General
Footage of a woman’s racist tirade against an Asian male driver in Los Angeles has gone viral on TikTok.
A video uploaded by TikTok user @sam.anthabong on Wednesday shows the woman, identified as Ashley Barkis, verbally and physically attacking the man, allegedly in response to a car collision.
According to the clip’s onscreen text, the person being harassed is a friend of a friend of the TikTok user.
The video, which has already garnered over 527,000 views, also includes photos of the aftermath of the incident. The images show the man with scratches and marks on his skin, suggesting he may have suffered injuries during the altercation. However, it remains unclear if these injuries were directly caused by Barkis.
In the video, Barkis can be heard loudly demanding the man’s insurance information while making racially derogatory remarks. She repeatedly questions his legal status, asking if he has a driver’s license and if he is from America.
“You hit my car, so where is your insurance!” Barkis can be heard saying. “Do you have a driver’s license? Are you from America? Do you even have papers? Are you legal to be here? Where is your driver’s license?”
Her aggressive behavior escalates when the man attempts to comply by presenting his license, only to have it knocked away by her. She then proceeds to physically assault him while some onlookers record the incident with their phones and attempt to stop her.
After directing her anger toward others in the vicinity and assaulting some of them, Barkis returns her focus to the original victim.
At one point, she can be seen pushing the man and seemingly knocking his phone away. Shortly after, she shoves him toward oncoming traffic, endangering his safety. The TikTok video concludes as Barkis retreats to her car.
In a follow-up video posted on Saturday, @sam.anthabong shares an update from the victim’s boss, who allegedly released a statement following the four-vehicle collision.
According to the source, a reckless driver who cut through traffic and then slammed on the brakes ended up causing a chain reaction that resulted in multiple cars colliding.
The Asian driver and his passengers, who were in the third car in the video, had to exit their vehicle after their airbags were deployed, while the passengers in the first and fourth cars remained inside. Barkis focused her anger on the group with the Asian driver even though they did not cause the collision.
According to @sam.anthabong, Barkis left the scene after getting into her car, leaving the situation unresolved at the time.
The victims were reportedly only able to report the vehicular collision and not the verbal and physical attacks, as they were allegedly ridiculed when they presented the video of the incident at a police station. The officers allegedly laughed at the group for being unable to handle Barkis by themselves.
In @sam.anthabong’s follow-up video, she also shares a screenshot of an alleged conversation between Barkis and someone who claims to personally know her. The alleged conversation shows Barkis defending herself for the way she acted.
The victims’ friends are hoping to bring more attention to the incident until local authorities act on the matter.
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