NAPERVILLE, Ill. — A suburban Illinois gas station clerk has been suspended after a video posted to Facebook shows him in a confrontation with customers as he tells them, “ICE will come,” and makes other anti-immigrant comments.
The clerk, who worked at the Bucky’s Mobil gas station at 1576 Washington in Naperville, was recorded on video arguing with customers.
The woman who posted the video on Facebook on Tuesday wrote, “Look at this guy who didn’t want to sell us anything because we are Mexican. What a way to treat your tourists.”
In the video, the clerk can be heard asking a customer, “Are you a citizen?” The customer replies, “Yes. What is your problem?” He goes on to say, “Don’t you know the rules?” The customer again asks what his problem is, to which the clerk responds, “They need to go back to their country.”
Carolina Buitron, whose two cousins were visiting from Mexico and were in the video, said this has never happened to her before. She said she was upset and hurt by what happened, but said she is now getting lots of support. Buitron lives in a neighboring town and was born in the United States.
A protest was held Wednesday at the gas station in response to the clerk’s comments.
On the man’s public Facebook page, he called Nancy Pelosi a Satanist and said the words he used in the video were not racist.
A spokesperson for Bucky’s said the comments the clerk made are not reflective of their core values. An investigation is ongoing about the clerk’s behavior.
The video comes just days after President Donald Trump tweeted about four congresswomen of color and told them to “go back to their country.”
Bob Ahlgren, was across the street from the gas station during the protest with an American flag and a “Build the wall” sign. He stopped because he saw a protest about racism, but didn’t know what happened until he saw the video. He said while he doesn’t “necessarily agree with that,” he said he showed up to show support for Trump.
The clerk in the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
