DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A disturbing racist rant directed at a local restaurant owner was caught on camera last week outside of a Delray Beach business.
The incident occurred Thursday at the Ramen Lab Eatery, located at 25 Northeast Second Avenue, and was recorded by owner Louis Grayson.
Grayson, who is of Asian descent, posted on social media that he and his fellow employees were closing for the night and stacking up their outside chairs.
That's when three men walked up to the business and attempted to sit down in Ramen Lab's chairs to eat a pizza.
A heated confrontation between the men and Grayson ensued with several anti-Asian insults being hurled at the business owner.
Video recorded by Grayson shows him asking them to leave the area, but the three men continued to engage in an expletive-filled tirade.
** WARNING: The video below contains explicit language that may be disturbing to some viewers.**
"Take your f***ing China flu and shove it up your a**," one of the men was caught on camera saying. "I hope you f***ing die of corona."
Grayson posted on Facebook that the situation was "heartbreaking" but would not break their spirits.
"We respect and love everyone however this is hard to grasp," the post says. "We will not stand for it EVER and we hope justice will be served to these individuals."
Grayson said he was blown away by the support he received after posting the video.
"From Californian to New Jersey, England, Australia, over the world, and I am very in shock by it," Grayson said.
John Brewer with the "Socially Distanced Supper Club" group said he saw people posting about visiting the Ramen Lab to support the business after the incident.
"Let's not give these guys the stage for too long," Brewer said. "Let's just come back and rally behind these folks, and let them know how much they are loved."
Grayson said they felt that support this past weekend.
"Even if they came out and didn't dine with us, they just stopped by. We had a lot of calls this weekend saying, 'We support you and we are sorry,'" Grayson said.
He said he hopes all of this helps bring awareness to hate against Asian Americans.
"This still goes on every day, and I grew up with it too, but this is another level," Grayson said.
Delray Beach police said Monday that there is no active investigation in the case, and no charges will be filed.
Crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have surged in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic first began last year and have continued into 2021.
A Pew Research study released in April found that 32 percent of Asian American adults said they have feared someone might threaten or physically attack them.