Hate Crimes Unit called after racially offensive video in Abbotsford goes viral

ABBOTSFORD (NEWS 1130) – Officers with the Abbotsford Police Department have contacted the province’s Hate Crimes Unit and Crown Counsel as it investigates a racially charged video.

A man shouts the words "white power" at a man filming a racially offensive argument in Abbotsford.

In the video, first posted to Twitter, a man is seen in a parking lot shouting slurs, expletives and the words “white power” to the person behind the camera. The man goes on to ask, “When did you come to Canada?” The man filming is heard saying, “I was born in Canada.”

Police are calling the incident disturbing and say an investigation began after the confrontation first surfaced late last week. Investigators confirm the video was shot in a parking lot in an area known as Five Corners.

A man in a racially offensive parking lot argument in Abbotsford walks towards the camera with a cell phone.

The APD say apparently the man got upset after being issued a ticket for parking in a reserved space. “We want to expand the perimeters to beyond what happens in just the video. We want to know what happened before and obviously we want to know what happened after,” explains Constable Ian MacDonald.

He says the videographer was a third-party who saw some sort of a verbal altercation. “[That was] occurring between an occupant in that pick-up truck and a by-law officer who was issuing that truck a ticket. We want to know what was said. We want to know whether that would, in any way, meet the threshold for a criminal charge.”

It’s unclear if the initial target of the slurs by a passenger in the truck was an Abbotsford bylaw officer or an employee of a private parking firm.
MacDonald says they have identified everyone in the video, but are still appealing for witnesses to come forward.

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