A California waitress has been hailed a hero after she ejected a man from the restaurant for launching a racist attack on an Asian family who was simply there to celebrate a birthday, KION reported.
After footage of Jennica Cochran personally kicking the man out of the location went viral online, multiple fundraising campaigns were established in her honor, resulting in over $40,000 in tips.
On July 4, the Orosa Chan family gathered at the Lucia Restaurant in Carmel Valley to celebrate a birthday when the attack occured.
“We were singing happy birthday,” family member Jordan Chan, who recorded the viral video, told KION of the incident.
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“We were just taking pictures and goofing around with each other and then all of a sudden the man, Michael Lofthouse, starts making really loud racist remarks at us.”
In the video Chan captured of the attack, the man can be seen seated across the patio from the family, firing racist insults at their table.
After Chan prompts him to repeat what he had allegedly said off camera, the man flips her the middle finger before continuing his shocking verbal assault.
“Trump’s gonna f— you,” Lofthouse can be heard saying in the video. “You f—— need to leave! You f—— Asian piece of s—!”
But waitress Cochran wasn’t just going to standby and let the man talk to the innocent family like that.
In the video, she can be seen stepping in to demand that Lofthouse leave the restaurant at once.
“No, you do not talk to our guests like that,” she says, furiously interrupting his rant. “Get out of here now!”
When Lofthouse crassly points out the family to the waitress, Cochran responds, “They are valued guests!”
Chan’s video of the shocking encounter has since gone viral online, racking up nearly 1 million views on Instagram.
“We were celebrating my tita’s birthday, literally just singing happy birthday to her and taking pictures, when this white supremacist starts yelling disgusting racist remarks at us,” she wrote in the caption .
She added, “It is no coincidence that this man has the audacity to showcase such blatant racism on the 4th of July.”
The video was also shared on Twitter by a friend of Chan’s where it has been viewed over 6 million times as of writing.
Many of those people who saw the video wanted to send Cochran a tip for so passionately defending the family.
A series of GoFundMe campaigns have been established for the waitress, totaling over $40,000. This one is the largest and has currently raised more than $38,000 alone for Cochran, with organizer Jeremy Stephens explaining 100% of the funds will be given directly to the waitress.
“We want to show our appreciation for the everyday heroes that are doing what they can to make the world a better place for those who deal with racism in all forms on a near daily basis,” he explained online.
Cochran, who wasn’t even the family’s waitress, said she felt compelled to step in and put an end to the unbelievable racist attack.
I just did what needed to be done,” she told ABC 7 . “I did what anybody else should or would do in that situation.”
“I’m not a mother, but I felt almost maternal,” she added. “Right, like this is my family and I will take care of them and I will do whatever I can to protect these people. To have someone hate you just because of the way that you look, that’s beyond me. I don’t understand it.”
“It’s not something that I will condone ever again, being silent.”
After the clip went viral, it was revealed that Lofthouse is the CEO of a San Francisco IT company called Solid8.
He has since issued a statement via the company’s Twitter account to apologize for his racist remarks:
“My behavior in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments. I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all race and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.”
