HANFORD, California – Hanford street vendor José Luis Pérez was scared and fearful after a resident allegedly threatened him if he ever saw him on that street again.
In a video recorded by the victim herself and her sister-in-law, the neighbor is heard saying that “the problem is that these mf… (profanity) come to the street”, and yells at him to go to another neighborhood.
“We don’t want this shit over here” is heard in the footage, as the irritated resident has a golf club in his hand.
José Luis still tells the story with fear because he was used to selling on that street. Now, he has had to change his course for fear of reprisal.
Because the seller does not speak English, he himself asked his sister-in-law to help translate for him. José told him that he did not want problems, to which the neighbor responded by shouting: “I don’t care (I don’t care). Understand what I’m saying. These people are morons.”
The images captured by José Pérez caused outrage among Tik Tok users, making the situation viral and obtaining majority support from the online community.
For its part, the city of Hanford referred to the fact and commented in a Facebook post that it was aware of the video circulating on social networks where it “shows a man making offensive and unnecessary comments towards a Hanford street vendor.”
Hanford Mayor Travis Paden stated that “the comments do not represent the city or its citizens.”
“The hostile and derogatory language I heard in that video was unacceptable,” said Mayor Paden, adding that he is committed to “making Hanford the most vibrant and welcoming community in the Central Valley.”
