Boy, father shaken after racist tirade in Surrey

A 9-year-old boy and his father are shaken up after encountering a racist tirade in Surrey over the weekend. The pair were going for a bike ride when things took a turn. Ashley Burr has the details.

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A father-and-son bike ride turned into a nightmare over the weekend after the pair was almost hit by a car and the driver launched into a racist tirade.

Alejandro Diaz and his boy were out biking near the intersection of 96 Avenue and 160 Street on Sunday afternoon when a vehicle started to honk at them.

Not realizing the honking was directed at them, the pair continued down the road. However, that’s when Diaz says the driver cut them off and pulled over.

“He got out of the car he started screaming and yelling at us, and we were in the bike lane and so we were confused on what happened,” Diaz tells CityNews Vancouver. “So, other people started yelling at him, ‘Just calm down, there is a kid there. Just calm down, just chill.'”

Diaz says he decided to call the police as the man became increasingly aggressive.

“The guy starts yelling lots of racial stuff and then he kept saying we should go back, I should go back home I should go back to where I am from,” he adds.

The father and son waited for officers to arrive, but Diaz says the man drove off by the time police arrived. Diaz gave the man’s licence plate over to the RCMP, who did make contact with the driver, instructing him on patience and road safety.

“Based on the circumstances, we were able to come to an informal resolution, and at that time I updated Alejandro and advised him that I had spoken to [the driver],” explains Const. Alex Cameron.

“From what we understood from yesterday there is nothing else we can do. The cops told him that he should be more careful but that’s it,” Diaz adds.

The incident didn’t sit well with Cameron, who ultimately decided to give Diaz a call to see if it would be alright for him to stop by and talk to his son.

“What made me want to reach out to Parker was the fact that I saw that he was so upset at [the] scene, and when I saw his look on his face and he didn’t want to talk to me it was just unsettling for me for the rest of the day. I followed up by going to his house, and I brought him a teddy bear and I asked him ‘Would you do me a favour and take this teddy bear on bike rides with you?” Cameron explains.

Although thankful for the constable’s kindness, Diaz remains frustrated with a system he says lets people spreading racism so easily off the hook

“He was aggressive, he was swearing was saying racial things. And that’s it? He was just told to be nicer that’s it, there are no consequences for this guy,” Diaz says.

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