Man hurls racial slurs at Stop Asian Hate rally in Richmond

Video has surfaced that shows a man hurling racial slurs at a Stop Asian Hate rally in Richmond on Sunday.

Richmond RCMP confirm the incident was reported to police and that the investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile, earlier footage and reports show that the man involved in Sunday's incident appeared to vent to another group of Asian individuals in Downtown Vancouver last year.

The man later wrote an apology letter to the Richmond News, saying he was sorry.

On Sunday, members from the local Chinese-speaking community showed up at Richmond-Brighouse Station to hold a rally to raise awareness of the rise of anti-Asian hate and promote cross-cultural dialogues to combat racism.

However, near the end of the event, a few attendees were approached by the man, who started hurling racial slurs at them.

As the confrontation went on, Patrick Lui, one of the volunteers at the rally, started recording the interaction. In the video, the man can be heard saying “If you want to still live like you are in China, stay in China. Eat your Chinese food ... I am angry at the Chinese culture” and “you’re no different than any other culture, you’re not special and you give that impression.”

Another attendee, Ally Wang, said she was shocked.

“It’s more painful to actually experience racism on your own than reading news about people being attacked by racist rants or incidents,” said Wang, adding that this was her first time facing racism after immigrating to Canada more than 10 years ago.

“The only passport I hold is the Canadian passport. We are all Canadians and nobody should have the right to tell me where I should go. As a multicultural society, accepting differences and embracing diversity is what makes us unique. The incident also means we need to do more to address racism.”

After seeing the man showing no signs of stopping, Lui began asking for help from passers-by. A young man and his friend stepped in and tried to help group members out, according to Wang.