Two People Were Being Harassed For Speaking Spanish In A Grocery Store. Then This Woman Stepped In.

[demmiblue]

"It felt good to see someone who was born here defend us that way," one of the women said.

A woman who allegedly harassed two people for speaking Spanish in a Colorado grocery store was confronted by another woman before being arrested by police in an incident captured on video.

The footage, which has been viewed more than 500,000 times since it was posted to Facebook, shows Kamira Trent shouting down Linda Dwire in an aisle of a City Market grocery store in Rifle, Colorado, on Monday afternoon.

"I'm calling the cops. You leave these women alone! Get out!," Trent tells Dwire in front of two women from Mexico, Fabiola Velasquez and Isabel Marin, who had been speaking Spanish to each other.

"You come from a generation that's destroying this country," Dwire replies.

"No I do not. I have respect. You do not harass people," Trent counters.

"You will lose your country," Dwire says, pointing her finger at Trent. "You know what, you will lose this country."

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/blakemontgomery/two-people-were-being-harassed-for-speaking-spanish-in-a

Link to tweet

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

1. Watched the video on Facebook

Kamira seems like my kind of woman. I would have done the same exact thing in that situation.

[FM123]

2. This kind of hateful racist behavior is happening more & more these days, it disgusts me!

[SkipG]

5. The result of the shitgibbon in the White House licensing it

[FM123]

14. Exactly!

[trueblue2007]

59. the woman in White .... Linda Dwine was arrested for harrassing the hispanic people !!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6241279/Linda-Dwire-arrested-harassing-women-speaking-Spanish-Colorado-grocery-store.html

SHE IS JUST LIKE TRUMP .... HATEFUL PERSON. (my opinion)

PICTURED: White woman arrested for hurling abuse at two Mexican shoppers for speaking Spanish in a grocery store and demanding they learn English because 'you're in my country'

Linda Dwire has been charged with two counts of bias-motivated harassment
Was booked into jail after the confrontation at a City Market in Rifle, Colorado
She was filmed harassing the two women after asking if they lived in the US
Bystander Kamira Trent then stepped in and told her to stop berating the pair
Trent threatened to call the cops and told Dwire to get out of the store
After Dwire was arrested, she insisted her outburst was nothing to do with race, but was a 'patriotic thing'

[trueblue2007]

60. Hope she has to pay a HUGE fine and gets in trouble for HATE CRIME.

white woman who was arrested for harassing two Mexican shoppers for speaking Spanish inside a Colorado grocery store has been identified.

Linda Dwire, 64, was booked into Garfield County Jail on Monday night and charged with two counts of bias-motivated harassment after shocking video of the confrontation surfaced.

The footage shows her lecturing Fabiola Velasquez and Isabel Marin in the aisle of a City Market in Rifle after asking if they lived in the US.

She kept berating the pair and insisted they should be speaking English until Kamira Trent rushed to their defense and told the her to stop, or she would call the cops.

'You don't harass people,' Trent can be heard saying. 'Get out of here! Now!'

[FromTheAshes]

3. PLEASE, let this shit happen in front of me...PLEASE. nt

[CurtEastPoint]

4. HUGE SURPRISE! She's a ....

REPUBLICAN!

[demmiblue]

7. WHAT?!

[ProudLib72]

41. Love that gif!

Whut?!!

[uponit7771]

18. Shocked, just shocked !! Seriously, what are these people going to do when Red Don steps down?!

... are they going to off themselves like Hitler true believers did ?!!?

They're not going to have an enabler for life

[Oneironaut]

44. Sometimes that doesn't matter.

I know someone (not as a friend) who is a rabid, foaming at the mouth, bigoted Trumpy who thinks ISIS is going to come kill you and hates anyone who isn’t White. They love Hannity and conspiracy theories. They’re also registered as a Democrat.

They are a very confused person.

[SaintLouisBlues]

6. How dare Spanish-speaking people "invade" Colorado

Oh wait, the US invaded Old Mexico/New Spain:




http://geo-mexico.com/?p=10904

[geardaddy]

11. Plus, the women from Mexico were probably had a native background

Not a Spanish/European background. So, their roots go back way longer than Ms. Dwire's.

[SaintLouisBlues]

13. Yes, the vast majority of Mexicans have Native-American ancestry, which is why most Mexicans look

the way they do. Mexico is six percent white, the rest all or mostly of indigenous ancestry.

[uponit7771]

17. +1, My Mexican friend brought this to my attention. Made me sit and think

[aggiesal]

36. And yet Garfield County was completely within Mexico's borders pre 1848 ...

I'll bet this racist had no clue.

[IluvPitties]

8. Colorado is Spanish for red.

[deurbano]

37. Exactly.

Last edited Tue Oct 9, 2018, 12:56 PM - Edit history (1)

"The early Spanish explorers in the Rocky Mountain region named a river they found the Rio Colorado for the reddish silt that the water carried down from the mountains. "

Why do they care so much about "losing" "our" country (to those who were here before "us" )? Aren't they all about to get raptured, anyway?

[bdamomma]

9. really sickening

make america white again huh?

These sick ass people who say go back to your country don't they realize the only natives to the United States were Native Indian Americans???

[lunatica]

21. Which includes Latinos

Who’s ancestry is Native American.

[bdamomma]

24. yes that's true

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. That's what being an ally looks like.

[Quayblue]

51. Yep nt

[SDJay]

12. That's Just the Thing...

These ‘empowered’ bigots are freaking cowards and bullies, just like their orange messiah. Stand up to them, get in their fucking faces and they scatter like the human cockroaches they are.

Kudos to this brave and PATRIOTIC lady for standing up for TRUE American values.

[Snake Plissken]

15. I was just in Quebec Canada this summer and Barcelona Spain last year ...

And the thought never even crossed my mind that anyone would act like this pile of shit and harass me for speaking English in a region which speaks French or Catalan

[geardaddy]

16. Welsh speakers get this a lot in Wales

Anti-Welsh people harrass Welsh speakers in their own country all the time.

[mwooldri]

28. May those Anti-Welsh people have their TVs stuck forever on S4C...

... and their radios on BBC Cymru.

In the days before S4C, HTV in-vision continuity announcers regularly announced all programmes in English and Welsh. In analogue TV days it was obvious that 'Channel 4' in Wales was different as the Welsh language programming was in peak time. With digital TV and Internet media, it is possible to be in a Welsh Free zone in Wales. Maybe the main public service broadcasters in Wales need to have Welsh content on their channels again?

I know I'm going off on a tangent here but my point is this: With Wales, Welsh language should be expected IMO. Anyone who has a problem with that can deport themselves back to the Home Counties of England.

Besides - different languages make the world an interesting place. It could be just me, but my reaction to hearing a different language is not "Speak English", it is "I wonder what they are saying", feeling embarrassed at myself for being monolingual, and maybe, just maybe..."can you teach me?" Also the constitution does not state anything about ones' first Amendment rights having to be expressed in English, and those people who say "Speak English" are IMO assholes.

[geardaddy]

35. Thank you!

I agree with you that Welsh should be expected in Wales. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of Welsh people who are anti-Welsh language.

I'm with you - I love hearing other languages. It does make for an wonderful world.

[tazkcmo]

43. Speaking of the Constitution

When I swore into the Army I don't recall swearing to uphold the Constitution just for white people.

[geardaddy]

47. Spot on taxkcmo

[area51]

46. I didn't realize Welsh speakers were being harassed in their own country,

that's awful.

[geardaddy]

48. Yep, it's been going on forever. n/t

[DFW]

19. My two US citizen daughters always speak German to each other, even when in the USA

Last edited Thu Oct 4, 2018, 03:33 PM - Edit history (1)

I wonder if the hysteria only rises to the surface when people speak Spanish?

My former professor when I was in school in Spain once told me of something that happened when he visited the USA. He was in Texas, and heard someone call a Mexican "Spanish." He jumped in saying, "no he isn't. I'M Spanish. I'm from Spain. He is from Mexico. He is Mexican." I'm sure the Anglo had no clue what he was talking about.

As far as "real" Americans are concerned, we are all speaking "European" anyway. England is in Europe. Spain is in Europe. Both countries speak EUROPEAN languages. English is no more American than Spanish is. Anyone who says they are speaking "American" had better be speaking Lakota, Navajo, Seminole, Nez Perce, Iroquois, whatever.

[bonniebgood]

23. Sad truth is this ignorant lady did not know what language they

were speaking, it was more about what they looked like.

[mountain grammy]

27. Exactly!

any language other than English. I believe it has to be a mental defect with these haters.

[DFW]

33. That's not surprising, unfortunately. N/T

[geardaddy]

49. Exactly DFW

I hate it when people say "American" for American English. And what they're really speaking is North American English, because it includes Canadian English, as well.

[jmbar2]

20. We need many more vids of people being good allies like this

They need to become more common than the hate videos. Set a new standard.

[lunatica]

22. Well usually the people recording the videos are allies

So whenever we see a video it means one of us is recording it.

[Grammy23]

25. My only caution to this would be very careful where you put your hands

On another. And try to keep your temper under control so you don’t inadvertently lose control of the situation. I noticed she touched the woman’s arm which could easily escalate to a shoving match. So in a situation like that always be aware of your own actions.

I applaud the younger person for speaking up! But be sure you don’t cause unnecessary trouble for yourself OR worse, make the harasser look like a sympathetic character if you push or grab the other person.

[Cracklin Charlie]

31. I had a friend ask me what he should do if he saw an incident of public racism.

My advice: just walk up and stand behind the person being attacked. That alone will send a strong message without saying a word. The attacker will usually back down. If not, step in between. There’s no need to escalate, bullies are almost always cowards, as well.

[oasis]

34. +1.Very good advice.

[ecstatic]

63. Not to mention it's "rifle" Colorado. Glad that lady

wasn't packing. I wonder if it's a "Stand Your Ground" state.

[muntrv]

26. Does Dwire act that way when people speak Russian?

[CrispyQ]

40. Made me laugh. -nt

[Cracklin Charlie]

29. I saw a supermarket checker get busted down to cart guy.

He mocked some Spanish speaking customers in his line right in front of me.

Store manager calmly walks over on the spot, hands him an orange jacket, and tells him to go outside and get carts. She apologized to the customers, checked their groceries, and said “please come back soon”.

I moved up, and said “wow, that was awesome”. I never saw that rude checker at the register again.

[IMPEACH_45DJT]

30. Good on that woman for speaking out about such hatred.

Shame that this nonsense is becoming more popular in Drumpf's America. Sad.

[gopiscrap]

55. welcome to DU

[oasis]

32. She ran the racist out of the store. Courageous moment.

[ck4829]

38. Trust me lurkers, the good feeling you get from defending 'others' is a lot greater

than any small and temporary rush you may get when you cheer on or join in any demonization, attacking, scapegoating, etc. of those 'others'.

[CrispyQ]

39. This was righteous!

Yes. Shame them out of the public sphere. You're free to be a bigot in your own home, but in the public space we don't take that shit. So can it or go home.

[ProudLib72]

42. Rifle. Western slope. Virulently red

Thank God there are still a couple of people on the western slope who aren't deplorable.

[xor]

45. I can't wrap my head around why anyone would get upset over two people talking to each other

in another language. I have little doubt this is based primarily on some racist hatred, as I doubt the lady would have harassed two white folks speaking French.

It's amazing how so many self-described patriots have little understand about what this country is supposedly about when it comes to that whole freedom thing.

[hunter]

50. I like living in a place where I hear languages other than English spoken every day.

About half my neighbors don't speak English at home, but their kids who are growing up here do.

Our neighbor kids are trilingual and it's fascinating hearing them switch languages seamlessly depending on who they are talking to.

[shanti]

52. And she's been arrested!

Linda Dwire, 64, was booked into Garfield County Jail in Colorado on Monday night and charged with two counts of bias-motivated harassment after shocking video of the confrontation surfaced.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

56. That is fantastic news! Thank you for the update, my dear shanti!

[shanti]

58. Anytime, Peggy!

[struggle4progress]

53. "This state wouldn't even be called 'Colorado' if it had any Spanish in it's past!"

[trueblue2007]

54. thank you thank you LADY IN PURPLE!! The woman wearing white blouse should be ashamed of herself.

Anyone harassing folks who are speaking spanish, french, german, vietnamese etc should be shamed like the woman in white.
I hope they called the cops on WOMAN IN WHITE.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

57. See post #52, my dear trueblue2007!

[KY_EnviroGuy]

61. Making an ass of herself in the toy department, to boot.

NOT a good example for anyone, especially if children were around.

I hope the court tells her to make amends......

[left-of-center2012]

62. I grew up in western PA ...

This was in the 1950s and 1960s.
Many people spoke Polish and other languages of eastern Europe.
Many came to work in the mines and steel mills.

I'd hear it on the buses, in the stores, etc.
Never gave it a second thought.

Same here now with Spanish in New Mexico. It doesn't bother me.

[eleny]

64. My family spoke Lithuanian EVERY-where

But that was NYC where many nationalities rubbed elbows.

Rifle. The western slope of Colorado. According to Wiki it's 81% white. So nice that she got schooled by a righteous sister. Racists have nowhere to hide not even out in Rifle.

[smirkymonkey]

65. Well done Kamira Trent!

[RickHworth]

66. Having problems with the link.

My phone antivirus does not like the link

[gay texan]

67. "But she assured us that she's not racist"

Shit, bull

[Rhiannon12866]

68. I hear people speaking other languages in stores all the time in my neck-of-the-woods

It's a tourist area. A lot of the time it's French since we're not that far from Canada, but I do hear languages I don't recognize and try to guess what it is. In other countries, it's common for people to speak more than one language. I have often wished that our schools emphasized languages more.

[onetexan]

69. Its a wonderful thing to be able to speak another language

Both our daughters speak another language. Both their second college majors was another language. The bigotted 1/3 dont see the value of languages because their hate and ignorance blinds them. We have the Bigot in chief to blame for bringing these people out from the woodworks.

[Rhiannon12866]

70. I don't understand the bigotry towards immigrants, either.

All of us come from immigrants, there's no getting around it - some of us more recently than others, but all Americans do, even Trump. Most of mine "came over on the last boat," as my mother would say. My maternal grandparents both came from Poland, Polish was my mother's first language - I wish that she had passed that on to us. She was pretty good with French, too. And my paternal great grandparents both came from Ireland.

Just last weekend I had a reunion with childhood friends - including a lovely French Canadian couple who also speak English. And I've been overseas and we expect everyone to speak English - and chances are that they do. Back before the USSR fell, I visited there with my grandmother and her peace group. I had one conversation with a girl around my age who I sat next to in the theater. She obviously spoke Russian, but was also fluent in French and Italian - kept apologizing because she "didn't finish her English." I struggled to recall my years of French classes to communicate with her.

Kudos to your daughters! Speaking more than one language is an important asset!