A white man was captured in a viral video calling someone racist for wearing a mask with "Black Lives Matter" on it outside a donut shop in New York state.
The clip was originally posted on a Reddit thread for the city of Buffalo on Wednesday before quickly spreading to other social media platforms.
"Guy at Paula's Donuts couldn't handle my BLM mask today," the person who posted the clip on Reddit wrote alongside it.
"Dumb s***t. You're the racist," the man, wearing a red and grey shirt, is seen saying to the man filming the video from inside his car.
He adds: "I'm a God damn war veteran... and what are you? A college punk that don't even know what time it is!"
A male voice is heard responding: "Really? And that's because I wore a Black Lives Matter mask?"
Man in New York is triggered by someone wearing a "Black Lives Matter" mask pic.twitter.com/xvagaEyTHn
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) July 29, 2020
The other man replies: "Yes, because you're God darn racist! You are a racist! You call me a racist? You're a racist! I suppose you kneel for the flag too..."
"I never called you a racist, I said Black lives matter, buddy," the man filming is heard saying. "I said Black lives matter and you are so triggered because I had a mask that says Black lives matter because I value Black lives!"
The man, who isn't wearing a mask, then hurls an expletive before walking inside the store.
Paula's Donuts, a family-owned business in Buffalo, says on its website that all customers are required to wear masks.
According to the Reddit poster, the man wore a camouflage mask when inside the store.
The poster added that before the incident that was captured on camera, a woman working at the store had questioned why his mask didn't say 'white lives matter' while the man seen in the video was standing nearby.
"The woman behind the counter tried asking why my mask didn't say white lives matter," he wrote. "He stood by listening. When I explained with the house burning metaphor, she wouldn't let up. So I didn't get my donuts and left.
"When I went to get into my car, he started yelling at me about how we all have opinions. My response to him was 'you're right.' I was not in the mood for a discussion, but he definitely was. That riled him up and he started yelling. I did not ONCE call him a racist."
Reddit and Twitter users shared the video widely in a bid to identify the man seen in the 42-second clip.
"It's sad when a military vet fails to see they're opposing the freedoms they fought for," a Twitter user with the name 'Fifty Shades of Whey' wrote. "Their racist egos are so delicate, like fine china. Someone in NY will recognize him."
The Reddit user and Paula's Donuts have been contacted for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
