Racist rant at Edmonton liquor store caught on video

EDMONTON (CityNews) – A shocking video capturing a man’s racist, anti-mask rant at a north Edmonton Liquor store is making the rounds online.

The video, shot on Sunday, shows the man inside Olympia Liquor on 137 Avenue swearing at an employee.

WATCH: Racist rant caught on video (CREDIT: CTV NEWS)

This video contains language and content that some may find offensive. Viewer discretion is advised.

The nearly 90-second video starts in the middle of the wine aisle, with a man in a red shirt pointing at two other men wearing masks.

He shouts xenophobic slurs, claims the men are “brainwashed” and comments about “you people” moving to Canada.

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“Canadians are the nicest f— people in the world, and your belief system is not better than our f— lives,” the man shouted as he walked toward the exit.

“Why don’t you come to this country and be like everybody else? I never knew how good this country was ’til you people moved here.”

Evan Balgord, the Executive Director with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network told CityNews that this video is not shocking to see.

“Online, there are two strains of thought. Is racism getting worse? Or are people filming it more now? I think the answer to both those questions is yes,” Balgord said in a Zoom interview.

“We definitely saw an uptick in anti-Asian rhetoric throughout the course of the pandemic, particularly in the early days,” he said.

“That’s been corroborated by some police reports essentially. Especially out of Vancouver, where there’s a large Asian population, showing there’s been a large increase in hate crimes.”

While police are aware of the video, the Edmonton Police Service has not received a formal complaint, according to a statement.

The clerk apparently did not want to contact the police. Yasmin Jiwani, Professor and Concordia University Research Chair in Intersectionality, Violence & Resistance doesn’t blame him.

“Why would you? There could be a major form of retaliation against you. There is no safety in doing that.” She suggested that groups that are organized and advocate for marginalized groups can help.

“I think we need to be mindful of is that this is a form of violence that is actually played out on different bodies. Even though those guys were laughing, what else could they do?” she added.

Jiwani said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made people stay indoors and communicate virtually with like-minded people.

“Some of the work that I’ve done is that what I’ve noticed is that these enclaves have formed around key topical issues like immigration, race and so forth and these groups start to talk to each other and they’re like echo chambers.”

She said while the incident must have been traumatizing to the people involved, she thinks it should not be put up with.

“We’re supposed to be a society that aims towards an ethical non-violence and a practice of non-violence. We shouldn’t be allowing this.”