A young woman has apologized after being caught on video racially abusing an Asian driver in California.
According to The Daily Beast, the incident was recorded and originally uploaded to TikTok on Thursday by @sam.anthabong. It captured the aftermath of a minor car accident. In the video, a woman who had been identified as Ashley Barkis berates the driver while asking for his insurance information.
“You hit my car! I don’t give a fuck about this bitch!” she yells, according to The Daily Beast. “You hit my car, so where is your insurance? Where is your insurance? Do you have a driver’s license? Are you from America? Do you even have papers? Are you legal to be here?”
According to The Daily Mail, Barkis has a few thousand followers on Instagram and regularly posts fitness content. As the video went viral, many demanded that she apologize.
Barkis eventually uploaded an apology to Instagram.
LATEST STORIES
“I’d like to apologize to the family for any pain or grief that this encounter has brought,” Barkis said. “I would also like to apologize for any offense to the Asian community, as I am half Filipino. And I definitely don’t condone of any violence or racism against anyone in this world.
She has since deleted the apology but it has been uploaded to TikTok by other users like @soogia1.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
