Woman in racist-rant video filmed at Lethbridge Denny’s loses job with Dodge dealer
The B.C. woman caught on camera in the middle of a racist tirade in Lethbridge has been fired.
Kelly Pocha, who was identified as the woman in the video by Lethbridge News Now, was fired Wednesday from her job at Cranbrook Dodge, the dealership posted on its Facebook page.
In the video posted to both Twitter and Facebook, the woman appears to take exception to a table of brown-skinned men sitting behind her at the Denny’s on Mayor Magrath Drive.
The video, posted by a friend of one of the men, contains graphic language.
“Shut your (expletive) mouth,” the woman’s rant begins. “’Cause you know what? You’re dealing with a Canadian woman now, and I will leap across this table and punch you right in the (expletive) mouth.”
The woman doubles down on her rant when the men try to shrug off the verbal assault with laughter.
“Go back to your (expletive) country,” she continues.
The men respond, saying, “It doesn’t matter, we’re all Canadians,” while the woman repeatedly interrupts the man. “Yes, we’re all the same — I’m a human being, we’re all human beings,” a man says.
The exchange continues for almost two minutes as the woman hurls questions and insults, telling the men not to “talk down” to her while she attempts to stand on the booth as her male companion tries to restrain her.
Some commenters online are calling for a boycott of the restaurant and the chain. Posts of support have started circulating using the hashtag #WeAreAllCanadian.
While the video indicates the incident happened Tuesday, Sgt. Cameron Vanroon with the Lethbridge Police Service said it took place in “mid to late April,” and the video is only now surfacing online.
Lethbridge News Now identified the woman in the video, taken April 21, as Kelly Pocha of Cranbrook.
Pocha says the incident started when the men were speaking in a language that was not English, and she became irritated because she believed the men were laughing at her.
Vanroon confirmed officers were called to the restaurant last month during a verbal altercation, and said the Lethbridge Police Service is working to determine what happened during and after the incident.
Posts on Twitter indicate police went to the Denny’s, and the men in the video were asked to leave after the camera stops rolling.
Another video taken during the same incident shows other guests in the restaurant coming to the defence of the men in the video.
“(Expletive) he belongs in Canada just as much as you, shut the (expletive) up,” a woman from the back of the restaurant yells.
Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman waded into the online fervour on Facebook, saying Lethbridge has a “reputation as a city that welcomes immigrants and refugees.”
“I am embarrassed to learn that this incident happened in Lethbridge,” he wrote. “We are working hard to address racism and bigotry, but cannot prevent ignorance and the hostile behaviour of individuals.”
Premier Rachel Notley also weighed in, saying “racist, bigoted comments have no place in Alberta.”
In a now deleted tweet, Service Alberta Minister Stephanie McLean, minister of the Status of Women department, also issued a statement, which the video’s poster called “tone deaf.” Other posters said her comments amount to making excuses for the incident.
Education Minister David Eggen called his colleague’s remarks “entirely inappropriate,” saying McLean has since apologized and “removed the comment from social media.”
Eggen has been given a mandate from Notley to work on an anti-racism strategy and said education is the key to fighting ignorance, adding his report will be completed “very, very soon.”
United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney also issued a statement on Twitter, calling the woman’s comments “appalling.”
“Alberta is, and always has been, a welcoming home for hard-working newcomers from every corner of the world,” he said.
The Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council says it reached out to both the targets of the rant and the Denny’s in light of what it calls an “Islamophobic incident.”
“We’ve been told by a couple people that the men were actually asked to leave the Denny’s,” said Adil Hasan, vice-president of civic engagement with the council. “It’s appalling that this sort of stuff still goes on, but we’ve actually seen the incidents of Islamophobia increasing in Canada.”
Hasan said the council was pleased to see the statement from Spearman, saying it shows “strong leadership.”
The restaurant is the same Denny’s location where shock rocker Marilyn Manson was punched in the face in 2015.