LOS ANGELES–A Los Angeles County deputy was praised Monday for keeping his calm after a female driver pulled over for allegedly using her cell phone while driving went into a racist rant against Mexicans.
The woman, who was blurred out in the video, called the deputy a “Mexican racist,” and after signing the citation, said, “You’re always going to be a Mexican; you’ll never be White, you know that right? You’ll never be White. Which is what you really want to be, you want to be White.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told Bill Melugin, the Fox reporter, that he commended the deputy for remaining calm throughout the interaction. The report said the deputy identifies as Latino. He recorded the interaction on a personal bodycam because his station in San Dimas does not have official cameras.
The woman, who identified herself as a teacher, seemed to be combative during the entire interaction and called the deputy a murderer on several occasions and accused him of harassment. At one point she said, “You’re threatening to kill me and my son.”
She demanded that he call his supervisor, who appeared to show up at the end of the video.
The department said it is investigating the matter.
“This Deputy exemplifies the core values of our Department, his demeanor during this traffic stop is just an example of professionalism and patience our @LASDHQ Deputies have,” Villanueva tweeted.