A Latina woman was with family visiting from Guatemala when she says they were verbally harassed by a white woman for conversing in Spanish at a Virginia restaurant.
The family was confronted inside Andy’s restaurant in Lovettsville.
“She asked for passports; she said that she knew everybody in Loudoun County to get us out of here, and she started saying that we were supposed to speak English, but I’m like ‘we’re not talking to you,'” said the victim, who asked to remain anonymous. “They’re here visiting and they don’t know English, so how do you want them to speak English when they’re here just visiting?”
Part of the incident was caught on video.
“You don’t freeload in this f—— country,” the woman is heard saying on the video. “You get the f— out, back to your f—— country.”
Police were called but no charges were filed.
The owner of the restaurant said the woman who harassed the family is not welcome back.
The Spanish-speaking victim said her 7-year-old daughter was present during the profanity-laced attack. She told Telemundo 44 that she is sharing her story because of her daughter and hopes that other victims of bias-motivated harassment also speak out.
“It’s not fair that they do this to us, and even less acceptable if there are children present. It’s not fair for any child to have to go through that. You just don’t do that,” the woman added.
