A plumber from Oregon was promptly fired on Tuesday for going viral in the wrong way. Driving behind Susan Khalaf, he reportedly demanded her attention before screaming Hispanic slurs at the Arab woman, not stopping even when she began filming him.
Susan Khalaf of Aloha, Oregon was running errands when she realized the man behind her was trying to get her attention. When he pulled up next to her, he began chanting traditionally Hispanic slurs such as “beaner” and “wetback.” During the 20-second video, Khalaf informs him that she is Arab.
According to Raw Story, the American woman of Jordanian descent wanted to know what the unnamed plumber’s response would be when he discovered he was tossing around the wrong racial slurs.
“I wanted to see his reaction,” she said to the news outlet, “because if he’s this racially infuriated by Hispanics, I’m curious to see what his reaction would be with all the – everything going around about Arabs now.”
READ MORE: Where White People Meet: All about the tolerance, if you're white and straight
When Khalaf uploaded the video to Facebook, she didn’t expect much. She certainly did not expect the footage to reach 400,000 shares. The video went viral, making a splash in Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube. It was eventually removed from Facebook, but it is still on YouTube.
According to Raw Story, the unnamed man was employed by Walcott Plumbing. In a statement released on the company Facebook page, the Walcott Plumbing President said the employee was “terminated immediately.” The president of the company also noted that they, “Under no circumstances do I personally, nor do we as a company condone the use of abusive language of any kind to anyone.”
Despite the former employee’s termination, the internet has unleashed its wrath upon him. According to Oregon Live, the man was identified over social media and called the sheriff’s office Tuesday night because he was afraid for his safety. Upon closer examination of the man’s background, deputies discovered he had an outstanding warrant and arrested him for unrelated charges.
Although some may consider the video’s 383,000 views or the man’s termination to be a success, certain individuals felt the need to escalate the situation. One Reddit user claimed that his or her address had been mistakenly posted on Reddit as belonging to the man in question. The user also claimed that police visited their house twice as a result of the post.
However, Khalaf sees a silver lining to this incident.
“I don’t believe the majority of people are racist or have hatred,” She told KGW, “so it was just nice to see all the support.”