Man's racist tirade against photographer gets him fired
An angry man who verbally abused a video journalist with a disturbing series of racial slurs has lost his job after the shocking video went viral.
Freelance journalist Tom Jefferson was documenting a peaceful protest rally in Mars, Pennsylvania, against an energy company that is reportedly drilling for gas close to schools in the area.
Local man John Pisone walks over to the group and starts to harass them, calling them ‘lazy hippies’ and suggesting they should get jobs.
Pisone’s attention soon falls on the man behind the camera and begins to fire his insults at Mr Jefferson.
“F***ing lazy monkeys,” he says, making chimp noises.
“Maybe the 10th one I’ve seen in my life, too. You all look the same to me.”
The group of protesters jump to Mr Jefferson’s defence telling Pisone to leave.
Throughout all of the commotion, the photographer remains quiet.
“I felt it was necessary to document what he was doing and what he was saying so that people can see that there are people out there like this,” he told AJ+, an online media and news group.
“There’s a whole underbelly of society who thinks this way but aren’t emboldened enough to come out and say it.”
Since being uploaded to Facebook on Friday, the video has been viewed more than 5 million times, with users disgusted by Pisone’s language.
“The guys a low class moron!” one woman wrote.
“Ignorance at it's worst,” said another.
Pisone’s employer, MMC Land Management, terminated his employment last week and issued a statement on Facebook that has since been removed.
“We are sorry that this incident occurred. Whether at work or not, we do not condone hate speech – EVER,” the post read.
“MMC has terminated this employee and will never do business with him again in the future.”
American television news station Channel 11 spoke to Pisone following the incident who said he does not consider himself to be racist.
He said he was enraged over the protest because he believes the drilling will provide jobs and money to the area.
“This was stupid of me. I was angry,” he said.
“I went racial on him, him being black. I thought this was going to cut deep. I don't know what the hell I was thinking.
“I won't ever do this again.”
He has reportedly deactivated his social media accounts due to hate mail and death threats and has now turned to a church for guidance.
Unfortunately, there is plenty more where that came from. Check out these shocking videos of racist behaviour caught on camera:
Adelaide social experiment questions whether Australia is racist
An Adelaide YouTube prankster has conducted a confronting social experiment on the streets of his home city, which questions whether Australia is racist.
Shocking racist attack on Queensland Rail guard
A five minute video, filmed by a friend, shows the reported 17-year-old abusing a security guard during an altercation over why the commuter train had been stalled.
Woman armed with crowbar hurls abuse at neighbour
A shocking video has emerged of a Perth woman allegedly abusing her African neighbours, ending in violence and a date with court.
Racist rant on Sydney train
A passenger has filmed a disturbing racist rant on a Sydney train.
Woman subjected to man's vile racial attack on Melbourne train
A woman subjected to a vicious racial attack on a train has risked her safety to take a photograph of the man who was abusing her.
