An Indian-origin couple in Canada’s Hamilton city were subjected to racist abuse by a man on Saturday, in the parking lot of the Walmart Supercentre in the city. Dale Robertson, 47, told the couple to go back to their country and threatened to kill their children.
The Hamilton Police are now investigating the incident as a hate crime, CBC News reported on Tuesday.
A video of the incident shows Robertson trying to ram into a woman with a car. He then attempts to leave, but a man asks him, “What kind of example are you setting for your children?”
In response, Robertson yells, “Get out of the way! Get out of the way! If you put your hands on me, I will break your leg.”
He continues: “You’re the one trying to harass me, I am driving away!”. Asked if he wanted the Indian-origin man to go back to his country, Robertson yells, “Yes!”. He adds that he does not believe the man is a Canadian citizen, and says, “I don’t like you, I don’t like her...I am racist....I would kill your children first.”
Detective Paul Corrigan said that the couple were traumatised by the incident. “It hit them really hard,” he said according to CBC News. “They were extremely shocked by it, they had not experienced [something like this] before.”
He said the police were now checking Robertson’s social media accounts and security footage from the parking lot. “If we can prove motivation that’s a major part of the investigation,” Corrigan said. “What motivated this person to behave the way they did?”
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