A customer caused chaos inside a California Taco Bell last week when he went on a hateful tirade against Indians and Hindus that was caught on camera.
On Aug. 21, Krishnan Jayaraman stopped by a Fremont Taco Bell, where another patron began verbally abusing him, local outlet KRON 4 San Francisco reported.
In a video of the incident that was uploaded to YouTube, a man in an ill-fitting black shirt with his hair tied in a bun stands in front of the Taco Bell counter waiting to place an order. But before he does, he directs a number of derogatory comments to Jayaraman as he’s filming.
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“The fuck your bean burrito looking at? Disgusting, bro. Maybe wear some socks,” the man gestures to Jayaraman’s feet. “Nobody wants to see your ugly ass feet. Disgusting. You people are fucking ugly.”
Then, the man points at Jayaraman’s camera.
“Fucking nasty. Fucking disgusting human beings, bro. You’re disgusting, dog. Seriously. We’re tired,” the man says, putting his hands on his hips. “Nobody wants to fucking see you ordering bean burritos.”
After telling Jayaraman to take a shower, the man implies that Jayaraman doesn’t eat beef. Then, he tells the Taco Bell employees behind the counter that Jayaraman ordered “cow shit.”
“I’ll eat a Big Mac in front of your bitch ass,” the man tells Jayaraman. The man then repeatedly throws the N-word around.
“You look nasty. Don’t come out in public like this again. Sincerely, no one comes in public like this, dirty Hindu,” the man says. He then spits and looks back at the menu above the cash register.
The unidentified man finally places an order in broken Spanish, explicitly telling the cashier that he wants a beef meal.
“Everything beef, everything beef!” he shouts to the camera.
After showing Jayaraman the money in his wallet, the man once again berates Jayaraman for being vegetarian.
“Dirty ass Hindu,” the man repeats. “Walking around with your fucking toes out. Bitch, this ain’t India! You fucked India up, and now you’re fucking America up.”
Jayaraman never responds to the heckling. But the man continues to pace back and forth between the counter, the fountain-drink machine, and a table behind Jayaraman.
“Nobody likes you. This is why you get robbed,” he said. “This is why you people get robbed on the daily. This is why you motherfuckers are victims.”
“You come out in public like this. This is why you’re a joke. Indian people are a joke,” he continues. “What are you even? Fucking jungle-y ass.”
For over eight minutes, the man yells in Jayaraman’s face and blames India for being colonized during the era of the East India Company.
“You were the ones to kneel first. Your people were the ones to put your head down. Bitch! It’s ‘cause of motherfuckers like you!...This is why your country will never be shit! Pussy!” the man yells.
During the man’s rant—which finally ended when cops showed up—he shows a tattoo written in Punjabi on his arm and images replicating the Sikh Khanda Chakar, a sacred symbol that is supposed to illustrate divine knowledge. However, the man’s tattooed symbol also includes assault rifles. According to a user’s comment under the video, one of his tattoos reads, “Discard your ego and live a life with high morals and humbleness.”
In an interview with ABC 7 San Francisco, Jayaraman said he realized the man may have been of South Asian descent because of his pronunciation of Hindi words and ability to speak Punjabi. Jayaraman said the man was “hell-bent on picking up a fight.”
“Suck my dick, n----. Fuck Indira Gandhi,” the man said at one point, referring to the former Indian prime minister, who served in the 60s and 70s.
Jayaraman explained that the man’s rhetoric was similar to that of the Khalistan group, a Sikh separatist organization in northern India.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Taco Bell Corp. said it was aware of what happened at one of its franchised locations.
“The actions of the individual seen in the video are troubling, upsetting and not consistent with the brand’s inclusive values to respect and welcome customers of all backgrounds,” the statement read. “The franchisee who owns and operates this location confirmed team members contacted local authorities to help de-escalate the customers’ interaction and is continuing to look into the situation.”
In a statement on its Facebook page, the Fremont Police Department said it was actively investigating the incident, so it would not immediately release any information regarding the parties involved.
"We take hate incidents and hate crimes seriously, and understand the significant impact they have on our community,” Police Chief Sean Washington was quoted in the statement. “These incidents are despicable. We are here to protect all community members, regardless of their gender, race, nationality, religion, and other differences. …Fremont is one of the nation's most diverse communities, and we are thankful for the contributions of community members from different cultures and backgrounds."
Additional reporting was provided by Jose Pagliery and Manali Patel.
