A Brooklyn mother, who was visiting a neighborhood pizzeria with her young child, claims that a white woman yelled racial slurs at them and even threw red pepper flakes at her 5-month-old toddler. “We were assaulted with racial slurs and we were physically assaulted,” recalled the 36-year-old mother who wishes to remain anonymous. The alleged incident unfolded at Not Ray’s Pizza, when a stranger had allegedly called the woman, her toddler, and her 4-year-old son, an anti-Black racial slur before instructing them to go back to their country.
Things escalated quickly after the verbal attack turned physical as the white woman grabbed a hot pepper shaker and hurled it at the mother. “My daughter was in my arms. It was aimed to us,” said the mother, recounting the terrible incident. Thankfully, the chili flakes did not land in the baby’s nose or eyes. However, the attack itself left the mother in a difficult spot as she had to explain the ordeal to her young child. “I spoke to my children and I let them know that we’re humankind. We’re going to stand together. We’re going to continue to eat together and New York stand up,” she said.
The aftermath of the conflict, which was filmed by a witness, shows the woman ranting using obscene words. She eventually leaves the scene after the police arrive at the store. The NYPD is now investigating this matter as a hate crime. Arrests are yet to be made as the police are still searching for the woman. Pictures of the woman were uploaded on NYPD Hate Crime’s official Twitter page and anyone with information was urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
On 6/11/21 at 5:21 PM inside a Pizza shop at 694 Fulton St., Bklyn, a 36-year-old female patron, was exiting the location when a female entered, grabbed a shaker of black pepper, shook pepper at the victim and made anti-Black/anti-immigrant statements. Know her? 1-800-577-TIPS, read the Twitter post. Police believe that the suspect is homeless and store employees revealed that the lady came into the pizzeria asking for money.
People were left outraged as they wondered how anyone could throw chili flakes at someone who is carrying a child. “Shame on those that think it’s OK to throw pepper at a five-month-old baby and a four year old kid… That is assault. If you’ve ever gotten pepper in your eyes imagine that in an infant. A mom and her two little kids just got attacked verbally and physically in public.”