Colorado Man Arrested for Racist Rant and Threats Against Asians Dining at California In-N-Out Restaurant
Police said they arrested a Colorado man who was captured on camera making a racist and homophobic rant to Asians on Christmas Eve at an In-N-Out Burger in San Ramon, California.
Abigail Halili and her siblings had not expected an unpleasant encounter in Danville town the following morning. According to Halili, they overheard a person in a parked automobile shouting from his window and telling them to keep walking and that they needed to leave the store as they had been vandalizing and robbing the establishments.
His taunts become racial rants which include offensive hand gestures.
"We didn't know what to do, and he kept going on and on saying, 'you're Filipino idiots. You probably sell cocaine. You're dealers,'" Halili noted.
The Halilis quickly realized they were not the only Asian Americans in the East Bay to be the subject of racist insults after sharing their social media experience.
According to ABC 7, San Ramon police claimed that the Colorado man on Halili's video was the man they arrested Monday afternoon for his alleged involvement in homophobic and racist rants on Christmas Eve at an In-N-Out in San Ramon.
Colorado Man's First Victims
The Colorado man allegedly approached Arine Kim and her friend, Elliot Ha, from behind while they were filming themselves tasting menu items at In-N-Out in San Ramon, California, and he said, "You're filming yourself eating? You're weird homosexuals." Kim and Ha then laughed in disbelief.
After a few minutes, the Colorado man returned to their table and asked if they were Japanese or Korean. The man also asked Ha if he was dating Kim Jong Un or having gay sex with him.
After a short conversation, Ha asked the man cheekily if he might take him out to dinner. Kim recognized the situation might rapidly escalate, so she asked him to "stop."
However, the man threatened to spit in their faces in response. Kim and Ha tried to ignore him, but he returned and called himself a slave master before using a homophobic rant against him.
The man also threatened to wait for them outside. When a passerby saw what was happening, they rushed over to see how Kim and her friend were doing, and the man commented, "This is not in the name of holiday cheer."
When the man returned to the restaurant to pick up his order, Kim said he began harassing other people of color, KTLA reported. According to Kim, the man left the restaurant to smoke following their exchange, where he continued to stare and make gestures at them.
Video of Colorado Man Spewing Racist Rants Against Asians Went Viral
San Ramon Police Chief Denton Carlson saw the viral TikTok video and reached out to Arine Kim and Elliot Ha.
Carlson then posted a photo of a man in a silver Mustang with Florida license plates on Sunday afternoon, claiming that he had displayed "identical behavior" in a different incident on Christmas morning.
San Ramon Police have appealed for the public's assistance in locating the suspect. Both incidents have been classified as "hate-motivated incidents" and are currently under investigation. Ha hopes their story will illuminate the truth about anti-Asian discrimination, Yahoo reported.
"For every act caught on camera, there are hundreds that go unchecked, so I am hoping more awareness is brought to this," he noted.
San Ramon Police said tips from the public helped lead to the arrest of the Denver man with ties to the Bay Area. Authorities identified the Colorado man as Jordan Douglas Krah, 40, who was arrested on hate crimes charges.
He has been booked at the Martinez County Jail in California, where he remained in custody as of Monday afternoon.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: Man Arrested for Hate Crime After Video Captures Racist Rant at CA in-N-out, Police Say - From ABC7 News Bay Area