Couple Charged With ‘Mischief’ After Racist Assault on Asian Coffee Shop Manager in Canada

June 18, 2021

A man and a woman are both facing mischief charges for allegedly assaulting an Asian coffee shop manager in Richmond, British Columbia.

The incident: Suspects Astrid Maria Secreve and Michel Jean-Jacque Berthaume allegedly hurled racial slurs at Nikki, the manager of Rocanini Coffee Roasters coffee shop in Steveston, on March 29, reported Vancouver Sun.

Nikki had earlier asked the pair to follow social distancing protocols and keep a safe distance from other customers, NextShark previously reported.
The man dropped his coffee to the ground as a response while the woman threw her coffee at Nikki and told her, “F*ck you, Chinese.”
The incident was caught on the coffee shop’s CCTV and uploaded on Reddit.
When the couple attempted to leave, the manager followed them to their car and started recording a video.
In the clip, the man claimed the woman with him was “not well.” He can be heard later saying “f**king Chinese” twice and claiming Nikki has COVID-19.

Investigation results: Richmond RCMP first arrested only the woman following the incident but later charged both of them, following “a thorough and extensive investigation.”

In a statement on Thursday, Insp. Michael Cohee of the Richmond Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that “hate has no place in our community.”
Nikki said she spoke up about the incident because he wanted to bring awareness and alert people to be more careful.

The Asian community in Canada has recorded over 1,100 attacks since the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC), 73.4% of reports involved verbal harassment, and 10.7% were cases of physical force, aggression or unwanted physical contact.

Featured Image via Mr_Jihen

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