A woman from Hatboro, Pennsylvania, who went viral for a racist rant directed at owner Omar Quiñones at Amy’s Family Pizzeria, has been charged with ethnic intimidation and harassment.
The announcement was made on Friday (March 3) by the Hatboro Police Department (HPD). Hatboro is about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. The press release reads that charges were filed on Rita Bellew and that she “will be required to answer to those charges.”
According to the HPD, a video that captured the incident “shows Bellew berating the staff of the restaurant (Amy’s Family Pizzeria) with a profane, racially fueled tirade.” They add that “Bellew was apparently triggered, at least in part, by a Spanish broadcast being shown on a television in the restaurant.”
In the video, Bellew can be seen at the counter of the restaurant complaining to Quiñones that there is a Spanish-language program playing on the TV. When Quiñones asks, “What’s wrong with that?” Bellew responds by telling him that he’s “not American” and then continues to harass him.
“I will look you the f–k up and get you the f–k out of our town, OK?” she tells him before flipping him off. “F–k you. Give me my money back.”
She then proceeds to tell Quiñones that she’s not going to give her money to an “illegal immigrant” and adds that he’s in America, so he is “supposed to learn English.” She adds that having a Spanish-language program playing on the restaurant’s TV is “a f–k you to Americans.”
The HPD says a preliminary hearing will be scheduled by the court.