A man claiming to be a retired Los Angeles firefighter and peace officer was caught on video having a racist and xenophobic meltdown after allegedly interacting with a non-English speaking employee at a Walmart.
TikToker @kaysmiles48 confronted the man, who had apparently verbally accosted the employee at a store location in Lincoln, Nebraska, and posted three videos on the video-sharing app.
In the first of three videos, @kaysmiles48 told the riled customer:
"A uniform does not give you the right to be racist."
@kaysmiles78 Part 1 cornered Walmart employee yelling at her for not being American & not speaking English. Yes I got between them and involved. #lincolnnebraska
"You're disrespecting me," the man told her while pointing at the camera. But the videographer argued he was disrespecting the employee.
He denied being racist toward the employee and demanded the woman leave. "I'm not leaving 'til you leave," the TikToker told the male aggressor.
He advanced towards her and bellowed:
"When you're in America, you better learn our language."
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
When she asked him why he was verbally accosting the off-camera employee, whose ethnic identity was unclear, he yelled:
"Because they murdered 343 of my fellow firemen. That's why. Sept. 11, 2001—that's why."
He continued yelling:
"Learn English; it's Americuh. It's not Spain, and it's not Mexico."
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
In the second video, the man explained:
"When someone doesn't speak English, we can't communicate in Los Angeles, guess what happens, honest? People die."
@kaysmiles78 Part 2: watch part 1 for description #lincolnnebraska #racist
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
A male customer then intervened in an apparent attempt to deescalate the situation, but another Walmart employee tried to discourage him from getting involved.
The man continued to rant:
"I'm a retired fire, police officer, and I'm MMA trained. Ever heard of Chuck Liddell? We train guys like that. How about Conor McGregor? Get away from me. Get the f'k away from me?"
When the other guy said he would "f'k" him up, the man responded:
"Seriously? You're talking to L.A.'s finest, Get that guy away from me. He probably has a gang background based on those tattoos."
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
The confrontation took a turn when the other male customer asserted his toughness and said he was part of the Aryan Brotherhood—a known, organized crime syndicate.
"Amen. Let's go," said the man. "God bless you anyway. Jesus died on the cross for you."
His challenger then told him, "Thank you for your service."
The man continued raising his voice at his challenger and said:
"You stay away from me! Because you don't know! I'm wearing baggy clothes, but this is 200 pounds of (inaudible). Get away from me."
In the third video, the man claimed he spoke "five languages" and said that when people don't speak "our language, I'm gonna tell you straight up, people die."
@kaysmiles78 Part 3: watch part 1-2 for description. #lincolnnebraska #lafiredepartment (you missing a crazy come get him) #racist #walmart
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
The video ends with him telling someone who appears to be a supervisor that he wants to pay for his items and leave.
A few people in the comments mentioned how poorly Walmart handled the situation by not kicking the customer out of the store for his disruptive and antagonizing behavior.
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
@kaysmiles78/TikTok
The Daily Dot said they reached out to @kaysmiles78 for more details, but so far, there have not been any updates.
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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images