An Asian man took to Instagram to expose a stranger who allegedly threatened to attack him while yelling racial slurs in Rockville, Md., on Sunday night.
What happened: Jeff Chan (@dimsumlite), a cosplay and fashion photographer, had just finished watching “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” with four friends at the Regal Cinemas Rockville Center when he came across the unidentified man, who allegedly approached him asking for help. The encounter quickly took a bad turn that was partly caught on video.
- Chan said he agreed to help the man, but because the latter was not wearing a mask, he asked him to keep a 6-feet (1.83-meter) distance. This allegedly set the man off.
- “As soon as he heard that, he threatens to attack me and calls me derogatory terms like ch*nk and China. He starts following me and continues to flick me off,” Chan wrote.
- In the video, the man can be seen raising his middle fingers and telling Chan to “get the f*ck outta here.” He is also heard using the N-word twice and calling Chan a “China b*tch.” “You want a gang n*****? Stay here,” the man says.
- Chan said a female friend tried to intervene, but the man said he was “not afraid to hit [a] woman.” Chan’s friend is also seen in the video.
The aftermath: About 10 minutes after the encounter, Chan decided to call the police over fears that the man might hurt others. “I felt like he was a danger to society, especially since he was standing in front of a movie theater,” Chan told NextShark.
- Chan said he was pulled over by another officer for talking on the phone. Fortunately, the cop he was speaking to was still on the line, and they were soon able to straighten out the situation.
- In comments under his post, Chan explained that the man asked for help getting an Uber home. But he immediately set boundaries when the maskless stranger started getting “extremely close.” “COVID or no COVID, it was in my personal space,” Chan wrote. “That’s when things escalated.”
- Chan believes the incident was racially-motivated. In the video, the man can be seen trying to talk to a white male bystander. “I think it was definitely race-motivated because he asked the white guy if he wanted to help him assault me. Ironically, the movie ‘Shang-Chi’ just finished,” Chan told NextShark.
- Chan urged others to share his experience and spread awareness. “Asian hate is still a thing,” he said.
Chan said that while he made a police call, he’s not sure if the incident was actually documented.
Featured Image via Jeff Chan (@dimsumlite)
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