This comes as the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported an increase in hate crimes in its most recent data, jumping from 7,103 incidents in 2019 to 8,052 in 2020.
JC, who declined to share his last name, told Newsweek that he and his colleagues had been hired for a trash pick-up and removal job at the woman’s house in Dana Point, California, on May 31.
“The problem was that when she listed the job, she didn’t add every item there,” he explained. “When we arrived at the address, before we unloaded everything, she was informed that there would be extra charges because the list was not accurate.”
But the woman was unwilling to pay the extra charge. Her refusal quickly spiraled into an all-out attack that JC captured on video.
His first video of the incident has amassed 1.4 million views on TikTok.
“Just trying to do our job,” JC told the woman while loading boxes of trash.
“No you’re not,” she lashed back. “You told them that you wanted 200 extra dollars. That’s what you told them. Are you lying now?”
“I’m not lying. You didn’t hire me,” JC replied. He and his colleagues were hired by a company that contracted them out for the trash removal job.
“You said 200 extra dollars,” the woman said. “Get out of my country.”
In a second video with 5.9 million views, she picked up a box of trash and hurled it at the workers.
She quickly denied this in a third video with 1.4 million views, saying, “I didn’t hit you with anything. You threw that box at me. That’s okay, the police are coming.”
Shortly after, she added, “You assaulted me. You tried to rape me for 200 extra dollars. You’re a f**king liar.”
JC told viewers that both he and the customer called the police. Although his “blood was boiling” when the woman told him to leave “her” country, he also feared the police’s response.
“The balance, you know—she’s a woman, white,” he told Newsweek. “How are they going to view the Mexican guy, you know? It’s that fear in the back of our heads. How are they going to look at me? That’s why I tried to have everything on video.”
Sheriff’s deputies told JC there was not enough evidence to charge the woman with a hate crime, but after he showed them the video of her throwing a box, they said he could press assault charges.
JC filed a report for assault but said he has yet to receive a response.
The Department of Justice defines hate crimes as crimes committed on the basis of “perceived or actual race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.” The “crime” is typically a violent crime, such as “assault, murder, arson, vandalism, or threats to commit such crimes.” Conspiring or asking another person to commit such crimes, even if they were not carried out, may also be considered a hate crime.
