Northridge Family Victims Of Anti-Asian Racist Rant In Carmel
NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA) -- Raymond Orosa was celebrating his wife's birthday with another family at a restaurant in Carmel when his table was verbally assaulted by a man sitting at another table.
The families had just finished singing "Happy Birthday," when the man, who has now been identified as Michael Lofthouse, went on a racist rant against the Asian American families.
Orosa, who is a resident of Northridge, said in the 26 years he and his wife have lived in the U.S., he's never experienced this type of hate.
"I was shocked," he said. "I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the safety of my family or of people in the restaurant."
In the video, Lofthouse, the CEO of a tech company in the Bay Area, can be heard yelling expletives and racist slurs at the families.
"Asian piece of sh*t," he yells at one point.
Quickly, the server came to the defense of Orosa and the others at the table, kicking Lofthouse out of the restaurant.
"You do not talk to our guests like that," she says to Lofthouse in the video. "Get out!"
The general manager of the restaurant said he is pleased with how his staff handled the situation. Since the video went viral on social media, the server's reaction has also garnered the praise of prominent social media figures including model Chrissy Teigen.
"If anyone knows who this server is, I'd like to give her a much earned tip," Teigen tweeted.
Orosa said he was glad the server stepped in and he thinks more people need to do so when hearing racist attacks like this one.
"I was very impressed with how she handled it and what was important to her," he said. "I encourage people to stand up and...tell everybody that it's not acceptable anymore."