New York Lawyer Behind Rant Against Spanish Speakers That Went Viral Says He Is 'Deeply Sorry'
Aaron Schlossberg, the lawyer that was identified to be the man who confronted a few Spanish-speaking employees in a restaurant in New York City, has now posted an apology on Twitter. He claimed that the incident has made him see his actions in a new light and that he is "deeply sorry."
This came after what would be a deluge of public shaming on social media, as well as on business review pages for Schlossberg's law firm, from online users who were offended by what he said last week,
Schlossberg posted his apology as a photo on Twitter to earlier today to be able to fit his newfound realizations in one post. In the message, he opened by offering an apology to the people that he insulted at the time.
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"I see my word and actions hurt people, and for that I am deeply sorry," he wrote, adding that the scene shown in the video that went viral did not represent the "real" him.
"I am not racist," he claimed, before explaining that it is precisely because of the "remarkable diversity" of New York that he decided to move over to the city in the first place.
He closed by saying that he loved the city and the country as a whole, and in part "because of immigrants" and the culture and diversity that they bring to the country with them, as he said in his message.
The Manhattan-based attorney has laid into the staff of a Fresh Kitchen branch around lunch time, seemingly just because he heard some of them speak Spanish while in their shifts, according to CBS News.
A video of the confrontation was caught by Emily Serrano, who was a regular customer at the Madison Avenue restaurant and was present at the time with one of her close friends. She was also friendly with one of the workers in the place.
"Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English," Schlossberg ranted to an employee. "Every person I listen to. He spoke it, he spoke it, she's speaking it. It's America," he added.
"If you intend to be running a place in midtown Manhattan, your staff better be speaking to customers in English," he added, before finally launching into speculation that the workers were undocumented migrants and threatening to call ICE, presumably to have them deported.
The video, which is unsuitable for some viewers due to some profanity in it, has spread like fire on social media. The original post has been watched more six million times on Facebook alone.
Faced with an immense online backlash after the incident, Schlossberg has seen his business page entry on Yelp taken down to one star by a wave of negative reviews. It's now under monitoring by Yelp's staff.
He has also been sent packing by the company that runs the building where his law firm was located.
