'We're gunna kill ya': Woman sacked after racist car park rant
A woman has been sacked from her job after a video of her hurling racist abuse at a group of Muslim women went viral.
Amber Hensley is heard telling the group of women to "go home" and that she would kill them during a heated confrontation at a Walmart car park in the US.
Somali immigrant Sarah Hassan, 21, told local media she was shopping on Tuesday, in Fargo, North Dakota, with her sister Layla, 20 and friend Rowda Soyan, 23, when the argument erupted.
Ms Hassan told WDay6 the woman in the video, later identified as Amber Elizabeth Hensley, accused the group of parking too close to her car.
Ms Hassan then hit back by calling the woman a “fat b****”.
That’s when the Somali-American woman got out her phone and began recording the argument.
In the 30-second video, Ms Hensley can be heard telling Ms Hassan “We're gunna kill all of ya, we're going to kill every one of you f****** Muslims.”
The clip was first shared on video sharing app Snapchat before the women sent it to Hukun Dabar, director of the Afro American Development Association. He shared the footage on Facebook where it went viral.
A Walmart shopper added she saw Ms Hensley inside the store before the car park fight, and claimed the woman had been yelling at staff inside, demanding the manager employ staff “who can speak English”.
Ms Hensley commented on the Facebook thread of the clip, apologising for her behaviour, but later deleted her Facebook account and the post.
“I would first like to apologise for the horrible things that I said to the two ladies at Walmart,” she wrote.
“It was not a Christian-like thing to do at all and I wish I could take it back, but I lost my cool and I can't.”
She also deleted a Twitter account on which she had previously expressed support for US President Donald Trump.
The following day, accounting firm Horab & Wentz announced Ms Hensley was being fired from her job as a secretary.
“Horab & Wentz does not agree with or support the statements expressed by Amber Hensley in the recently posted video,” the firm said in a statement.
Ms Hassan later told WDay6 she accepted the woman’s apology, saying, “anyone can have a bad day”.
On Wednesday Fargo Police Chief David Todd arranged a reconciliation between Ms Hensley and sisters Sarah and Leyla Hassan, and shared a picture on Facebook of the trio hugging.
In the caption the chief said the women each “expressed their sincere regrets, apologies and most importantly - forgiveness to each other”.
“This process has also allowed them to gain understanding and respect for each other,” the chief wrote.
“Not everything is perfect in this resolution. We have some ugliness in our community that needs to be addressed and worked on. Social media shows us that,” he added.
“However, perhaps we can all take a lesson from what was an ugly unfortunate interaction and how even despite words being said that cannot be taken back, forgiveness and understanding can still be achieved.”
