A Southern California woman is out of a job and facing death threats after she used her cell phone to videotape an encounter with a homeowner over a Mexican flag flying in the homeowners front yard and published the video on YouTube.
The woman, Tressy Capps, a political activist and a city council candidate in a town amid the Inland Empires endless suburbia, placed the video on YouTube on Aug. 11, 2014.
Hello? Hi. Is that a Mexican flag in your front yard, Capps asks, pleasantly enough, in the video.
The woman to whom she is speaking, Maria Banuelos, is standing behind a window. Banuelos doesnt respond because she doesnt speak English, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Undaunted, Capps continues.
You know we live in America right? Capps then says. This is the United States. So, why are you flying a Mexican flag in your front yard?
She then suggests that the woman behind the window move to Mexico if you want to fly your Mexican flag.
Does that make sense?
Capps also maintains in the video that the homeowners could face municipal fines for flying a Mexican flag in the United States. However, an attorney for Ontario, Calif. has since strenuously denied that assertion.
Banueloss husband, Sigifredo Banuelos, who does speak some English, said the homeowners fly the flag to celebrate their Mexican heritage. They also have an American flag, he noted.
I dont think its offensive because this flag doesnt do anything, he told CBS Los Angeles.
Obviously, the flag bothered Capps.
I was offended, she told the station. I was pretty upset. But I couldnt understand her.
The YouTube video has become something of a viral sensation. It was been viewed over 165,000 times as of Friday night.
The results of the viral video have been highly adverse for Capps. Her employer, real estate giant Coldwell Banker, has sacked her.
We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, Coldwell Banker spokesman David Siroty said in a statement obtained by Fox News Latino. We hold our affiliated companies to high ethical standards. Each of our franchised companies is independently owned and operated and we fully support the local owners decision to disassociate this independent agent from the brokerage firm and, by extension, our franchise system.
And then there are the death threats. My life is being threatened and the business I built for 30 years has suffered over a flag video, Capps wrote in a Facebook post. My son is being bullied at school now and for that I am devastated.
[T]aking a position on an issue does not make me evil, racist or unethical if I disagree with your position, she also wrote, according to Fox Latino.
Capps has since apologized for the incident, but the homeowners say they skeptical of her sincerity.
more here
The woman, Tressy Capps, a political activist and a city council candidate in a town amid the Inland Empires endless suburbia, placed the video on YouTube on Aug. 11, 2014.
Hello? Hi. Is that a Mexican flag in your front yard, Capps asks, pleasantly enough, in the video.
The woman to whom she is speaking, Maria Banuelos, is standing behind a window. Banuelos doesnt respond because she doesnt speak English, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Undaunted, Capps continues.
You know we live in America right? Capps then says. This is the United States. So, why are you flying a Mexican flag in your front yard?
She then suggests that the woman behind the window move to Mexico if you want to fly your Mexican flag.
Does that make sense?
Capps also maintains in the video that the homeowners could face municipal fines for flying a Mexican flag in the United States. However, an attorney for Ontario, Calif. has since strenuously denied that assertion.
Banueloss husband, Sigifredo Banuelos, who does speak some English, said the homeowners fly the flag to celebrate their Mexican heritage. They also have an American flag, he noted.
I dont think its offensive because this flag doesnt do anything, he told CBS Los Angeles.
Obviously, the flag bothered Capps.
I was offended, she told the station. I was pretty upset. But I couldnt understand her.
The YouTube video has become something of a viral sensation. It was been viewed over 165,000 times as of Friday night.
The results of the viral video have been highly adverse for Capps. Her employer, real estate giant Coldwell Banker, has sacked her.
We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, Coldwell Banker spokesman David Siroty said in a statement obtained by Fox News Latino. We hold our affiliated companies to high ethical standards. Each of our franchised companies is independently owned and operated and we fully support the local owners decision to disassociate this independent agent from the brokerage firm and, by extension, our franchise system.
And then there are the death threats. My life is being threatened and the business I built for 30 years has suffered over a flag video, Capps wrote in a Facebook post. My son is being bullied at school now and for that I am devastated.
[T]aking a position on an issue does not make me evil, racist or unethical if I disagree with your position, she also wrote, according to Fox Latino.
Capps has since apologized for the incident, but the homeowners say they skeptical of her sincerity.
more here
