x
Breaking News
More () »

Hate speech caught on video leads to arrest

On the streets of Portland its relatively easy to find people who have been harassed because of their skin color.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Warning: This story contains inappropriate language

Springfield police charged a man with intimidation, disorderly conduct and harassment after his racist rant was caught on camera.

The man police identified as 30-year-old Sean Felger can be heard yelling profanities at a Hispanic roofing crew which had a truck that was stuck and blocking Felger’s path.

"When I tell you to f---ing move your truck you f---ing move your truck!" he said on camera.

Police say Felger, who was pushing his 2-year-old in a stroller, was furious that he had to go into the roadway to get around the truck.

“F--- you, you're a f---ing piece of sh—Beaners,” Felger said. “F---king Go back to Mexico b----!”

The moment was caught on camera because the crew wanted to show their boss what happened and just happened to be recording when the rant began.

Police used the video to track down Felger.

It’s certainly not the first case in Oregon. More than a year ago, in May 2017, a white man harassed a Muslim couple as they drove to the hospital to check on her pregnancy.

Related: Man accused of anti-Muslim hate crime breaks down in tears

The harasser later gave a tearful apology outside court.

Just a month before that, in April 2017, a Marine Sergeant Major attacked a server at an Iraqi restaurant in Portland and also faced criminal charges.

Related: Charges dropped against Marine in Portland Iraqi restaurant assault

On the streets of Portland, its relatively easy to find people who have been harassed because of their skin color.

“Yeah, whether it’s my sexuality or whether its skin color-- but it really has nothing to do with me because it’s their insecurity,” an African-American man in downtown Portland said.

Still, it is disturbing and persistent.

“People do it all the time. I wouldn’t say...it’s like people call me the N word...a lot of people call me the N word," an African American teen downtown said. "They think it’s OK, but it’s not so don’t do that."

But is the problem getting worse? Is President Trump's rhetoric leading to more hate speech locally? Some think so.

“I think he's kind of given a platform to these people to speak out and do these things," said a woman in front of a Nordstrom store. "If he's saying these things--our president is saying these things --it gives other people--they feel they have the right to do these things.”

But that may not be the case, according to Sociologist Randy Blazak.

“What we know is that's relatively constant,” he said referring to reports of hate speech and hate crimes.

Blazak is also the chair of the Oregon Coalition Against Hate Crimes.

“There's been a lot of sky is falling, you know. That the election has caused this explosion of hate crimes around the country and we don’t really see that,” he said. “We see an uptick among certain populations, especially Arabs and Muslims and immigrants -- that those populations have seen an uptick. Overall hate crimes have remained consistent with where they were before the election.”

Before You Leave, Check This Out