Racist rant caught on cam: Woman threatened with violence in parking lot confrontation
By Edward Franco
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FORT MYERS, Florida (WBBH) — Maria Mejia, a Fort Myers resident, was threatened with violence and deportation during a racist rant by another driver in a parking lot outside TJ Maxx near US-41 and Cypress Lake Drive on Tuesday.
Mejia said, “She was just trying to, like, reach out to me. It was just hate after hate!” The confrontation was captured on Mejia’s phone, where the driver said, “We don’t want you. I hope you’re [expletive] illegal. I’ll call ICE! I would love to! And they’ll shoot you like they shoot the others! Go back to where you came from!”
Mejia described the attack as unprovoked and said the driver blocked her from walking to the store, even threatening her with an Uzi, a type of gun. Mejia said, “I don’t know if she was following me. I don’t know if I made a mistake, and if I did, I apologize because obviously it wasn’t on purpose.”
That driver is also heard in the video saying, “I hope you die in traffic! The way you drive, you’re going to anyway,” and asking, “Where did you learn to drive?”
When Mejia reported the incident, Lee County deputies initially told her there was not much they could do. However, after Gulf Coast News reached out the next day, the sheriff’s office stated they are now investigating the verbal altercation. Mejia expressed her fear, saying, “Yeah, I’m, I’m afraid!”
Criminal attorney Michael Raheb commented on the situation, noting, “Those last words, they do kind of possibly cross that threshold between free speech and fighting words and hate speech.”
Having lived in Fort Myers for over 20 years, Mejia hopes for a change in community attitudes, saying, “It’s just sad. The hate out there. We need to stop it as a community. We need to show that love is greater.”
Law enforcement advises that if you find yourself in a similar situation, the best course of action is not to engage and walk away.
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