A white man screamed racist hateful speech out of his car window at Janet Sabriu, a citizen and Houston voter on her way to the polls.
Alongside Sabriu on the road in the Spring Branch neighborhood, the white man criticized Sabriu’s driving and yelled, “That’s not how we drive in America. Trump’s deporting your illegal cousins, today, b—-.”
Sabriu asked Geirer if he was going to vote, to which he responded, “Learn English it’s my country.”
The Latina, who has been a Houston resident for 9 years and is a U.S. citizen, pulled out her cellphone to record the racist rant, which occurred on Thursday. She
posted it on Facebook, where she goes by the name Janet Espejel, and it has gone viral with over 3.7 million views.
Sabriu said of her recording the incident, “That’s the best lesson you can show somebody.”
“It’s not okay, racists. It’s not okay [to allow] bullying,” she told the television station. “We have to stop all this hate, and the only way is respecting everybody; every human being.”
He continued to hurl insults at her, “You need a gay friend to help you with your makeup and clothes… Ugly tacky, sticky, skanky bit*h.”
Sabriu said she wanted an apology and of defending against racists, she told
KHOU, “Speak up. Don’t be afraid. That’s the only way that we can stop all this hate is just showing and exposing the people because I think the majority (are) good people that don’t want this to continue.”
While social media quickly identified the racist as Charles Geirer, by Saturday, he was using an alias, Kevin, to apologize to Sabriu, as he started receiving death threats.
He back tracked his vulgar name calling and his racist comments and traded them for an apology stating he suffers from bipolar disorder, and that he reacted poorly in his car that day. He also said he never would’ve yelled if he knew Sabriu’s two-year-old daughter was in the backseat of her car. Of his disorder, he said “it’s very real” and “not an excuse.”
“All I want to say to her is, ‘Miss, I’m so sorry, I hope you can understand more, and I wish you nothing more than love and happiness for your family,’ ” he told
KTRK News.
Houston police tweeted that they were aware of the incident and investigating:
The @houstonpolice Department is aware of this incident and investigators have been assigned to determine what, if any, crime was committed. Regardless of our finding, the behavior exhibited is abhorrent. #RelationalPolicing https://t.co/6eLkUYt6Pc
Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) October 27, 2018
Reader Question: Would you record a racist or bigoted rant if you witnessed it, or experienced it yourself
