Walmart parking lot dispute being investigated as hate crime

Stoney Creek man faces multiple charges in incident that was posted on YouTube

AN INCIDENT at a Stoney Creek Walmart where a man was captured on video declaring he’s racist and threatening a couple that he’d “kill (their) children first” is officially being investigated as a hate crime.

Hamilton police were called to the Walmart on Centennial Parkway North around 1 p.m. Friday after a woman was hit by a pickup truck, suffering minor injuries, during a dispute in the parking lot.

Dale Robertson, 47, of Stoney Creek is charged with threatening death, dangerous driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

“Yes, we are investigating this as a hate crime,” Det. Paul Corrigan of the hate crime/extremism unit said Monday afternoon.

This means that while detectives from the criminal investigations branch continue to investigate the collision and threats, Corrigan will do a parallel hate crime investigation that he said will include looking at the accused’s background and social media presence.

There is no criminal charge for a hate crime in Canada, but the Crown can appeal to a judge for an increased sentence if there is a conviction. Corrigan will gather that evidence for court.

Patryk Laszczuk posted the video on YouTube after a friend from work — the victim — sent it to him to show why he wasn’t returning to the office. He said the video was taken by his friend’s wife.

It began after a dispute over a parking space, Laszczuk said.

The cellphone video begins after the confrontation has already begun and shows a man in a silver pickup truck arguing with another man standing outside.

As things escalate, the woman holding the camera is hit by the accelerating truck and a voice is heard saying, “Oops ... get out of the way.”

The other man then appears to grab the truck driver’s arm, and the truck driver says: “You put your f---ing hands on me I will break your leg . ... You’re the one trying to harass me.”

The man standing outside the car says, “You want me to go to my own country? I’m a Canadian citizen.”

To which the pickup driver says, “Show me, prove it.” He then mimic’s the man’s accent saying, “You don’t talk like a Canadian.”

“I’m racist as f---. I don’t like you, I don’t like her . ... I would kill your children first,” the man in the truck says before driving off. The couple is originally from India, but are Canadian citizens, Laszczuk said.

It’s not clear exactly what happened before the video begins, but Laszczuk said, “I don’t know what you could have possibly done to justify saying that.”

He said he posted the video online, with his friend’s permission, because he thought it was important for people to see.

The couple are both physically OK, but are overwhelmed by what happened, he said, adding that they don’t want to speak publicly at this time.

Police have spoken with the couple, who Corrigan described as extremely shocked, having never experienced a similar incident before. “They are upset understandably, traumatized . ... It hit them really hard,” he said.

This is the second hate-motivated crime Hamilton police have investigated this year, Corrigan said. He also tracks hatemotivated incidents such as racial slurs or graffiti. There have been 58 non-criminal, hate-bias-motivated incidents reported in Hamilton this year, which he said is on track to be around the same as the past couple of years.

Hamilton has consistently ranked at or near the top for the most reported hate incidents per capita in Canada. But Corrigan said that’s in part because police encourage the reporting of any hate-motivated incident.

This video and story have generated a huge response online, with international media running the story and people calling out the accused. Some of those posting on social media questioned whether he had been removed from his role on an elementary school council as a result of the incident, however, the Hamilton public school board says he left in December.

Laszczuk said he’s been surprised at how big the reaction has been.

The incident was upsetting but not surprising to Princewill Ogban, who heads the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre. He pointed out that it happened at the same time the first Hamilton Newcomer Day was being celebrated at city hall.

Since the official April launch of the centre — a collaboration between the city, McMaster University and the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion — Ogban said people have come forward to share similar experiences with him.

“It happens — not just in Hamilton, but across Canada — on a daily basis,” he said.

The centre has received 19 reports of race-related incidents since it started serving clients, said Ogban.

What’s different about Friday’s confrontation is that it happened in a public space and was captured on video, he said.

“People, especially racialized people, are watching now to see how it’s being handled, especially by the police,” Ogban said. “Depending on how the police handle it, it will either create an opportunity where more people who experience this will come to the police or, on the other hand, make people that experience it say, ‘There’s no need going to the police, they’re not going to do anything.’”

Ogban said he also hopes incidents like this will prompt a closer look at how society can be more proactive in using education to help prevent individual and systemic racism and teaching bystanders how they can offer support.

Robertson was released on a promise to appear in court Aug. 23.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the east-end Criminal Investigations Branch at 905-546-2907. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.