RACIST RANT OF TECH BOSS CAUGHT ON VIDEO
A BRITISH Silicon Valley boss has been filmed hurling racist abuse at an Asian family – yelling: ‘Trump is going to f*** you.’
Michael Lofthouse abused Jordan Chan and her family while they were celebrating her aunt’s birthday at a restaurant in Carmel Valley, California, on Saturday – America’s Independence Day.
Ms Chan said the tirade started after they sang Happy Birthday to her aunt Mari Orosa and he called the group a ‘f***ing Asian piece of s***’.
During the incident, Mr Lofthouse gave the family the finger and told them to ‘go back to whatever f***ing Asian country you’re from’, adding ‘you don’t belong here’.
Before a waitress tells Mr Lofthouse to ‘ leave now’, Ms Chan filmed him getting up and yelling at her family: ‘Trump’s going to f*** you! You f***ers need to leave.’
Mr Lofthouse is heard asking the waitress at the Bernardus Lodge and Spa: ‘ Who are these f***ers?’
When she responds, ‘they are valued guests’, he replies: ‘Are they? They are valued guests in America?’
The entrepreneur, who runs Solid8, a small cloud storage and online security firm in San Francisco, has been in the US for ten years. Ms Chan’s family have lived there for nearly three decades. The waitress continues to tell him to ‘ get out’, adding: ‘You are not allowed here ever again.’
Footage of the encounter was posted by Ms Chan on social media on Sunday and went viral after it was shared by pop star Kelly Clarkson.
Ms Chan added that Mr Lofthouse ‘had a LOT more to say after I stopped recording’.
Mr Lofthouse later issued a grovelling apology, telling Mail Online: ‘ My behaviour in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments.
‘I would like to deeply apologise to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel.
‘I was taught to respect people of all races, and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.’
The Bernardus Lodge extended ‘sincere apologies to the guests enjoying a birthday celebration on a holiday weekend’. It said it was proud of the way staff dealt with the situation, adding ‘it was handled swiftly and the diner escorted off without further escalation’.