A supporter of Vice President-elect Mike Pence faces a court hearing next month after police said he called two women in a New York City diner racist names and pepper-sprayed a bystander who defended them.
Frank Camino, 56, is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19 on charges of assault with intent to cause physical injury, attempted assault, recklessly causing injury and harassment in the second degree, local news website Gothamist reported.
Police arrested him early Nov. 20 at a diner after he reportedly called two Chinese-American women “c**ts” and “whores” and said they should “go back to Tokyo,” the website reported. Then he pepper-sprayed a man who stepped up to defend the women and said he doesn’t “tolerate racism,” according to a witness. Gothamist couldn’t reach Camino for comment.
One of the women, Sally Wen Mao, said the “loud, angry” man tore into her and a friend after she asked him to lower his voice. He had been griping how “disgusting” and “racist” the cast of the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” was to issue an appeal to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, according to Mao, a 29-year-old Chinese-American poet.
Mao wrote about the experience on Twitter and Facebook.
Camino reportedly entered the Lower East Side Coffee Shop alone after midnight and sat behind Mao and her friend, who had just come from an event celebrating Asian-American culture, Gothamist reported.
“When I was at the diner with my friend, we were talking directly about xenophobia in America and white male rage and how much it impacts us, our sense of humanity,” Mao, an Asian-American Studies educator for The City University of New York, told The Huffington Post.
Camino began talking loudly to a diner employee about the “Hamilton” cast’s address to Pence the previous weekend and “how disgusting and ‘racist’ they were,” Mao wrote in a Facebook post. She said Camino also complained about “so-called minorities.”
Mao said the man turned his aggression toward her and her friend when she asked him to lower his voice. Even after the women switched tables, the man continued ranting, telling them to “go Back to Tokyo” and calling them misogynistic slurs, Mao said.
Mao said she stood and splashed water from her cup into his face.
“His spite and his malice and his loudness reinforced how we were feeling,” Mao said. “I had no patience for that kind of tirade. In that moment, I really needed to take a stand.”
Camino threatened to have the women arrested, called the police and blocked the diner entrance so no one could leave, according to Marie Solis, a Mic.com staff writer who witnessed the confrontation and wrote an essay about it.
“My friends and I asked Mao and [her friend] to sit with us because we had all been genuinely fearful that this man, who was clearly angry and dangerous, would hurt them,” Solis wrote.
As Camino continued his racist rant, Mao threw a second cup of water at him.
Police soon arrived and took statements from those involved. Officers told Mao she wouldn’t be charged and allowed her and her friend to leave. After the officers walked outside, another customer approached Camino and told him, “I don’t tolerate racism,” according to Solis.
Solis described Camino’s response in her essay:
The man didn’t take well to this comment. “I wasn’t being racist,” he insisted. “I just told them to go back to Tokyo.”
I could sense things were going to escalate...
At that moment, though, a lot of things happened very quickly: I heard shouts and then turned to see the man stand up, reach into his pocket and pull out pepper spray, which he sprayed directly into the eyes of the patron who had called him out on his racism.
Solis ran outside to alert the police officers. Mao said she later learned the man hit with pepper spray was treated at a hospital.
“The rage and venom of these men know no limit now that this regime has been voted into place,” Mao wrote on Facebook, referring to the Trump administration.
“It was always there,” Mao added, “but now many like this man feel the need to inflict their rage over everyone around them, even in public spaces.”
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.